Yield to the Darkness
by Quatermass
Summary: (Bashing! Harem! Based on, but not an answer to, DZ2's 'Evil Never Dies' and 'The Potter Race' challenges) After a near-fatal beating by Vernon after Third Year, Harry is rescued by the most unlikely of...people. Except they're monsters, including an old friend. And he is the heir to the throne of their lord, Ainz Ooal Gown. Will Harry grasp the power that is being offered to him?
1. Foreword

**FOREWORD**

Well, here we are. Having recently read the first light novel of _Overlord_ (not to be confused with the video games), I was struck by the characters in it. Instead of trying to have Harry end up in _Yggdrasil_ (which has been done), I want the characters from _Overlord_ to make it into the Potterverse. Certainly, there is one story like that, but with Albedo adopting Harry and taking control over the surviving Death Eaters ( _Harry Potter and the Fallen Angel_ by Veriseple). But I wanted to try a different tack.

EDIT: A Guest reviewer pointed out that there are more stories where the denizens of Nazarick are transplanted into the Potterverse. So, disclaimer, I didn't read any of those before writing this, and feel free to check them out yourselves.

As with my _Homestuck_ crossover _Kakistocracy_ , this story has a number of the characters and a few story elements taken from _Overlord_ transplanted into the Potterverse. However, a number of details have been changed (Albedo and Shalltear being about Harry's age, for example, as well as a few tweaks to their natures and personalities), but I hope it still works.

This story is also an answer (albeit not a full one: it does disregard a few elements) to two of DZ2's challenges, the 'Evil Never Dies' challenge, and 'The Potter Race' challenge, with the latter more than the former. It's not a full answer to either challenge, but it still wouldn't be here without them.

Anyway, some disclaimers before we get to the story. Firstly, there will be spoilers for the Harry Potter series and for _Overlord_. You have been warned.

Secondly, there _will_ be annotations. If you feel the urge to complain, then resist it, or better yet, strangle it.

Thirdly, this is an M-rated work. There will be language, violence, VERY dark themes, and sexual references. Seriously, this may easily be one of my darker stories, and it certainly has a VERY dark beginning. Again, you have been warned.

Finally, the following is a fan-written work. Harry Potter and _Overlord_ are the property of their respective owners. Please support the official release. Otherwise, Shalltear will drink you dry of your blood…


	2. Chapter 1: The Heir of Ainz Ooal Gown

**CHAPTER 1:**

 **THE HEIR OF AINZ OOAL GOWN**

A pained gurgle came from his mouth. He was used to pain, true, but this was even worse than almost anything he had undergone before. Well, it was the worst he had to deal with from Muggles, he had to think. Everything else was either magical, or came from a magical creature.

His threat towards his uncle of siccing his godfather on him backfired, badly. Vernon had one hell of a grudge building up after what Harry did to his vile sister, and Vernon had just sneered at Harry's threat, beaten the ever-loving shit out of him, and then hurled him into his room. Harry wasn't any medical doctor, but he was sure that whatever his uncle did to him, he needed to get to a hospital fast. His right arm and left leg were broken, along with a few of his ribs (and the blood he was coughing up was not healthy by any stretch of the imagination) and his jaw, he was pretty sure he had lost sight in one of his eyes thanks to shards of glass going into it, and, oh joy, he was pissing himself, and he now wasn't sure what warm liquid was blood and what one was urine.

Well, this was it, was it? Irony abounded. He wasn't going to die at the hands of Voldemort, or a Basilisk, or an Acromantula, or a werewolf, or a Dementor. No, he was going to die because that fat fuck he was forced to call an uncle decided to beat the shit out of him. And was that a shovel he could hear being used in the backyard? Huh. Must've been the first time Vernon dug a hole ever since he had Harry to use as his slave.

How had they been able to get away with this? Those were Harry's thoughts as they spiralled into greyness from blood loss and concussion. Time and time again, he had raised the issue with the authorities, first in this part of society, and then amongst the magicals. Nothing ever changed, and Dumbledore sent him back here, thrice now, with a pat on the back, a cheery wave, and a ' _they can't possibly be as bad as you say_ '. Hell, he nearly got his godfather back, only for him to be forced to go on the run. He would have given anything to be with him.

But no. He hated most people, Muggle or mage. Most of those magical fools seemed willing to believe that Sirius had been a murderer, or that Harry was evil because he was a Parselmouth. And nobody in authority would ever believe him that he was being wronged by the Dursleys. It was a surprise to realise this, but he was a true misanthrope, with only certain exceptions. He hated his fame, and how people saw him because of it. He hated how he had Voldemort after him, and yet Dumbledore wouldn't tell him why. He hated how Snape was allowed to get away with what he did scot-free. And he hated being powerless while the world used him as its punching bag.

There was a distant screeching, a screeching he recognised as Hedwig's. He tried to get up, but couldn't. He could only hear as Vernon roared, and began…oh. Well, it sounded like Hedwig was being battered to death by Vernon and his shovel. A warm trickle of tears joined the puddle on the floor, especially when he heard Vernon mutter, "Ruddy bird…the freak will join you soon…"

Before anything further could eventuate, Harry heard knocking on the door. He heard Petunia answer it, only to scream, "GO AWAY!" But when she slammed the door, he heard an explosion.

Then, he heard the voice of a girl, maybe his age or younger, cheerfully say, "How rude. Don't you know how to treat guests?" Then, a pause, and then, the same girl said, her voice filled with menace, "Albedo…I can smell blood… _his_ blood. Fresh blood, too."

"I see," came the voice of a more mature girl. "…Mare, with me. Shalltear, I will leave you to clean up the…rubbish. As much as I'd love to myself, our lord is in danger, and his blood may cause you to…"

"It won't, but it would be my greatest pleasure to deal with these worms who dared to lay a finger on our lord," the other girl said.

"…Wait!" Petunia cried out. "I'll do anything you want! Just, please, let me…!"

"I'm sorry," the other girl said, her voice deepening and warping, " _but I don't make deals with_ _ **bitches(**_ _ **1)**_ _._ "

Inhuman snarls and screams came from downstairs, but Harry found himself not actually caring that much. Though what was that 'my lord' business? They couldn't have been talking about him, could they? Hmm, maybe the blood loss was causing him to hallucinate a rescue. Yes…yes, that was it…

The door to his room burst open, and as his sight began to be eaten by darkness, he saw a figure in white appear…a figure with black wings, peering down at him with golden eyes.

 _Is that an angel?_ He thought muzzily. Then, he saw the horns. _Or maybe it's a devil, come to drag me down to Hell…_ Then, he fell into oblivion, perhaps never to surface again…

* * *

The first thing that he realised upon waking up was that, well, he was surprised to even BE waking up at all. The second thing he realised was that he was in considerable pain, though not as much as he was in earlier. The third thing he realised was that he could hear a very familiar voice…and it sounded like Hermione.

"…Just as well that Shalltear dealt with them," Hermione was saying. "My parents and I have lived amongst humans, Albedo, and I have seen them at their best and worst. But given what they did to Harry, I would have…"

"Yes, I know, Hermione," said the voice of Albedo. "It is fortuitous that we did this now, or else we may not have a lord and master any longer."

Wait, what?

"How are Black and Lupin fitting in?" Hermione asked.

"Surprisingly well. Black is fine, for a human, though he has been flirting with the Pleiades rather more than is healthy…for him, especially where Solution and Narberal are involved. Lupin seems to have taken a shine to Aura and Mare, as if they were his own children. I believe his guilt at not trying to look after our lord and master has driven him to that. He has no pride as a werewolf and little more as a human, but with time, perhaps he will change that."

As Harry opened his eyes, and saw a brief glimpse of Hermione's bushy tresses before he screwed his eyes shut with pain, hissing quietly, he heard Hermione say, "Oh, he's waking up. Harry…can you speak?"

"Hermione…" Harry rasped.

"Take it easy, Harry. They managed to get you just in time," Hermione said soothingly, stroking his cheek gently with her hand.

Harry heard a door open nearby. "Ahh, that's better. Nothing like a warm bath after a bloodbath," came the voice of the girl that Albedo had called Shalltear. "Is he okay?"

"He's conscious, and he's able to speak," Albedo said. "My lord, could you open your eyes and look at us?"

Harry obeyed, and found himself looking at a trio of girls, about his age, fourteen verging on fifteen, surrounding his bed. He recognised Hermione, of course. But the other two…well, one of them he briefly glimpsed when he fell unconscious, and the other he had never seen before.

The first wore an elegant white dress over her beautiful figure, a golden necklace like a spider's web hanging in front of her chest. Her serenely beautiful features were framed by tresses of black hair. But she wasn't human. Her eyes were golden, with slit pupils, like those of a cat or a reptile. A pair of horns curled around her head like a circlet. And a pair of black wings seemed to sprout from her hips. And her smile seemed to have a vaguely unnerving element to it, despite its serenity.

The second was dressed in elegant, Victorian-style purple dress, complete with a parasol (open, oddly, given that opening an umbrella indoors was bad luck) and bonnet. Pale of skin, with silver hair framing a cute, elegant face, her eyes were blood red, and shone faintly. Where the first girl's smile was serene, this one had something of a smirk.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves, my lord," the dark-haired girl said. "I am Albedo."

"And I am Shalltear Bloodfallen, my lord," the second girl said. She looked at Hermione. "So, are you going to show Harry?"

"In a moment. Sealing my abilities was not my best idea in hindsight," Hermione said. "Otherwise, I could have figured out about the Basilisk sooner."

"You did so to protect yourself and Harry, Hermione, I am sure he would be as forgiving of the oversight as I was," Albedo said.

"You teased me mercilessly, and that's without going into what Shalltear had me do!" Hermione protested.

"Sorry, what?" Harry rasped.

Hermione winced, before she looked over at Harry. "I'm sorry for keeping this from you all this time, Harry. I had to seal almost all that was me to effectively infiltrate Hogwarts. This…is what I really am."

Suddenly, Hermione _changed_ , her body shifting and transforming. Green and brown scales sprouted all over her body like a rapidly-moving rash. Her bushy hair changed into a writhing mass of serpents. Her eyes, once brown, now resembled Albedo's, albeit a darker gold that reminded Harry uncomfortably of the Basilisk he had fought, even though he hadn't actually seen the eyes.

It was still recognisably Hermione. The monster in front of him had all her features. Hell, she was still beautiful, in a monstrous, exotic way. But she was also not human. She was a Gorgon.

As Harry gaped, Hermione gently hugged him. In Parseltongue, she said, " _I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. In fact, I couldn't. My mission was sealed by a spell like the Fidelius. It was for my protection…and yours. So too were my abilities, otherwise, I would have figured out about the Basilisk sooner and protected you! But I tried to do my best. I'm sorry if you hate me for it, but_ …"

" _Hermione_ ," he said, slipping into Parseltongue instinctively, trying to tamp down the feelings of betrayal he felt. " _I just want to know what's going on. And…if you were ever my friend._ "

" _Harry…I understand why you were sceptical. I wasn't sent to become your friend. I was sent to guard you, to help you survive until you achieved your destiny. But after you saved me from that Troll, just before I would have had to reveal myself and risk being put to death, I…it just happened. But if I told you what I really was, others could have found out. Wizards barely tolerate Goblins and Veela, they despise vampires and werewolves, even those who don't attack people, and Gorgons and Succubi…some of the staff at Hogwarts use Legilimency, a form of magical mind-reading, to put it crudely. Even if I told you, they could have discerned it from your mind, and it might have seemed suspicious if I taught you Occlumency, how to shield your mind, so soon._ "

"My lord…I mean, Harry," Albedo said. "Hermione is as loyal to you and your cause as Shalltear and myself, if not more so, reluctant as I am to admit that. Her deception was a necessity, one that has now ended. I personally find myself jealous that she was permitted to be in proximity to you all these years, but unlike many sycophants you will find here, I believe her loyalty to you is beyond reproach."

"Wow, did that stick in your craw to admit that?" Shalltear asked snidely.

"He is learning things he has been kept in ignorance of for his own protection, things that will have him questioning everything that has gone around him," Albedo explained with a thin veneer of patience to the other girl. "If we are to serve him well, then we need to ease his transition to assuming the title he deserves."

"Sorry, what are you talking about?" Harry asked, confused.

Hermione looked at Albedo and Shalltear, before she looked back at Harry. "Most of what I'm about to tell you isn't even in the history books, Harry. What is known is that Azkaban was once the fortress of the dark wizard Ekrizdis, known for his dark experiments. He kept Azkaban hidden, Unplottable by magicals and the mundane alike, partly to conceal his dark deeds. Or so the stories say. In truth, Azkaban was already hidden, and he stumbled across it, and usurped it from its rightful rulers. But those Ekrizdis enslaved eventually rose up against him. In his last spiteful act, he managed to reveal the presence of Azkaban to the world, and our ancestors were forced into hiding. Though not before taking Ekrizdis back with them…and ensuring he took a long time to die. He still is, in fact. Dying. Even after nearly six centuries."

Albedo's smile became decidedly predatory. "My clan consider it a rite of passage to think up a suitably novel torture to inflict on him. Considering what he did to my great-grandmother, it is richly deserved."

Great-grandmother…right, so Succubi were long-lived. He really hoped they were about his age.

"Don't feel sorry for him, Harry," Hermione said. "Ekrizdis was as bad, if not more so, as Voldemort or Grindlewald. And what he did to us was unforgivable."

"So, I'm like the Heir of Azkaban or something?" Harry asked. Well, that was just brilliant.

"Not exactly, my lord," Albedo said. "Rather, you are the heir to the legacy Ekrizdis attempted in vain to usurp. We have been waiting a long time for this. You are the heir to the title of Ainz Ooal Gown, and thus our lord and master…"

 **CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Well, that just happened. And that's easily one of the darkest and most horrific beginnings I've ever done to a Potterverse fanfic.**

 **Now, keep in mind that, while the NPCs of the Tomb of Nazarick will be characters here, their ages (at least where Albedo and Shalltear are concerned), natures (I'm having Shalltear age normally until she's an adult to reduce the squick factor, though she's still pretty much a lamprey when she gets her game face on), and some of their personalities will be a little modified. While still considerably misanthropic, Albedo's much less hateful of humans. Still contemptuous, though, save where Harry is concerned…as well as Luna (and to a lesser degree, Sirius and Remus, for reasons we will go into later). The history of the Potterverse version of Ainz Ooal Gown will be elucidated later.**

 **Oh, and the Potterverse characters are a year older than in canon.**

 **1\. Shalltear is channelling one of Momonga's first lines from Team Dai-Gurren's** ** _Overlord Abridged_** **, which I do recommend for fans of the series…or fans of Abridged Series in general.**


	3. Chapter 2: Lord of the Monsters

**CHAPTER 2:**

 **LORD OF THE MONSTERS**

Harry's first reaction was, understandably, sheer disbelief and shock. Hermione began to gently caress his cheek again. Harry noted distantly that her hand, while covered in scales, actually felt nice. Warm, and the texture of the scales actually felt interesting. " _It's okay, Harry_ ," she said soothingly in Parseltongue. " _It's okay. You'll be fine._ "

Albedo spoke up next, moving closer. "My lord, I understand this is somewhat confusing and distressing to you. But we would not have accepted you as heir to your legacy if we did not think you capable of assuming it," Albedo said, clasping his hand hand in her own. "Yes, you are young, and we are not fools as to assume the hyperbole of the Boy Who Lived is real…but through Hermione, we have learned of you performing feats well in advance of your age. While the one responsible for protecting you from Voldemort is most likely to be your mother, you yourself have proven yourself to have the potential we need. We need an heir to the legacy of Ainz Ooal Gown, if only because some of us would recognise no other authority."

Harry blinked, before he decided to roll with it, if only because they had rescued him from the Dursleys. "So…what are you exactly, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I am a Succubus, my lord, and Shalltear is…a lamprey."

"A True Vampire, actually," Shalltear said haughtily, shooting an annoyed glare at Albedo. "One born and bred of the Bloodfallen line. After I reach adulthood, I will live forever young! Of course, so will our lord and any who has his favour, once some pesky pests are dealt with. Ah, the thought of laying waste to my lord's enemies arouses me."

"We know," Albedo remarked. "A lot of things arouse you. If there is a god in existence, then I wonder what was going through his mind when he created you."

* * *

In another plane of existence, a man who went by the name of Peroroncino sneezed, frowned, and then put the finishing touches on his NPC for his guild in _Yggdrasil_ …

* * *

"Are they always like this?" Harry asked Hermione as Albedo and Shalltear glared at each other.

"Sometimes, they're worse," Hermione said. "Despite it all, they're…friends, I guess. Though they've been better friends since Luna came along."

"Luna?"

"Luna Lovegood," Shalltear said, breaking off her glaring contest with Albedo. "She's a student at Hogwarts. A Ravenclaw, in the year below you. She lives not far away from those redheads of yours. She's somewhat open-minded, perhaps too much. But she's entertaining for a human. Of course, so were those so-called relatives of yours. Though I have to admit, I'll have to avoid fatty foods in future after the walrus and the baby whale."

"We faked evidence of a Death Eater attack, Harry," Hermione said. "We have a very experienced mage, a Dark Elf called Mare Bello Fiore, to tamper with the wards and heal you. He's even more of a scaredy-cat than Neville, but if you want things dead or protected, he's second to none."

"Dark Elf?"

"Yes. He looks like a child and acts like one, but he's actually older than us by decades," Hermione said. "He and his sister, Aura, are amongst the last survivors of the race that wizards warped and turned into House Elves."

"We faked the attack, my lord, as we wished to throw others off the trail," Albedo said. "Few in Magical Britain would view your ascendancy as a good thing."

"Yeah, ascendancy to what? What is this Ainz Ooal Gown thing?"

"I will handle this one, Hermione," Albedo said. "My ancestor, the one I was named for, was the right hand of the original Ainz Ooal Gown. I know you enjoy reading the lore, but it is my responsibility."

"Okay, Albedo. Just remember our agreement: no throwing yourself at him until you know each other better," Hermione said.

Albedo nodded, but her usually serene smile became a smirk. "Well, you have an unfair advantage, Hermione, what with being a schoolfriend…and there's the life debt for saving you from the Troll. I would normally kill you to remove an obstacle…but I actually like you."

"Albedo, if you tried to kill me, you'd have to deal with my parents," Hermione said. "Even Succubi are vulnerable to dentistry without anaesthetic…" She looked at the now-smirking Shalltear, and added, pointedly and with her own sadistic smirk, "…and so are vampires, True or not. There are just more teeth to drill."

Shalltear pouted, while Albedo rolled her eyes. The Succubus looked over to Harry, before saying, "The origins of the title of Ainz Ooal Gown are somewhat obscure, even to their followers. What is known is that, in ancient times, the world was ruled secretly by forty-one wizards and witches, whose descendants eventually fell prey to bitter squabbling and in-fighting. You are aware, for example, that many myths involving gods, like those in Greco-Roman mythology, were actually those of wizards and witches. The Trojan War, for example, was triggered by what was effectively a beauty contest between the three witches that were later known as Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena, judged by that fool Paris. Of those forty-one and their descendants, one stayed out of the fighting. Instead, he began taking in the dispossessed of the magical world, particularly Dark Creatures. Until then, he was known to the Roman mages as _Sciurus_ , or the Squirrel(1), for his supposed timidity and cowardice and tendency to hoard. But we had another name for him, bestowed by the Goblins on the original forty-one. Ainz Ooal Gown is Gobbledegook for Shield of the Shadows(2). It is a title we have bestowed upon our leaders ever since, and used for our organisation in general. Most of the time, they are wizards who have been sympathetic to our cause, but sometimes, one of our people have risen to attain the role…or else act as a steward. Our base is the Tomb of Nazarick, the tomb of one of our former leaders, which is based deep within the island of Azkaban…which, incidentally, is where we are now."

"I…see. So, this isn't one of these 'conquering the world' deals?" Harry asked.

"As much as I'd love to see the world ground beneath your feet, my lord, and I would gladly support your ambitions if they ran in that direction, our ambitions at present are more about survival and protection of our kind from the humans, magical or mundane, who would make every effort to wipe us out. The world has changed, and not for the better. Unlike the majority of magicals, we are considerably more aware of the dangers, and benefits, of mundane technology."

"Seriously, according to Hermione, the so-called expert in the Ministry doesn't know what a rubber duck is for," Shalltear said with a roll of her eyes. "It's a _toy!_ I'd bet if you asked him what a nuclear bomb was, he'd look at you blankly. And they called a gun a type of metal wand Muggles use to kill each other in _The Daily Prophet_ while Black was a fugitive. Whereas we've managed to make TV and videos work here. Albedo can't get enough of serial killer thrillers, post-apocalyptic movies, and period dramas." In a stage whisper, as if saying something in confidence to Harry, despite it being clearly audible, she hissed, " _She_ _ **loves**_ _Jane Austen._ "

Albedo cleared her throat pointedly, looking somewhat embarrassed. "As if you have anything to say about my taste in films and television, Little Miss Hammer Horror. I remember the look on Christopher Lee's face when you went to that Hammer Horror Convention and showed him your fanart."

Harry looked at Hermione, and the Gorgon bookworm shook her head. "Don't ask. For your sanity's sake, don't ask."

"Oh, you don't need to _ask!_ " Shalltear said rather cheerfully. "I can go and get them now if…"

"NO!" Albedo and Hermione chorused simultaneously.

As Shalltear pouted, the door to the room opened, and a trio of people entered. He recognised Remus, of course, but he was accompanied by a pair of what looked like androgynous children, both with brown skin, blonde hair, pointy ears and mismatched eyes, one green, the other blue. One had a somewhat enthusiastic demeanour, dressed in trousers and a vest, with an undershirt made seemingly of red scales. The other was dressed in somewhat more feminine clothing, clutching a staff like it was a lifeline, and having a somewhat wimpy demeanour.

"Ah! Our lord and master is finally awake!" the enthusiastic one yelped with a grin.

"Don't crowd him, Aura," Remus said. "Mare…thanks for healing him."

The timid one nodded. Harry had to wonder why the poor sod was dressed in…well, he wore a skirt and stockings, for crying out loud! And this was the brother Hermione was talking about? Still, he reminded Harry painfully of himself before Hogwarts…or poor Neville. "Yeah, thanks for healing me…Mare, was it?"

A faint smile touched the skittish boy's lips, and he bowed. "It's my honour to do so, my lord," he said, his voice quavering a little.

"Sorry about my brother, my lord," Aura said, shooting Mare a look. "He's a wimp."

"And yet, he saved my life," Harry said. "Well, so did Albedo and Shalltear, and I'm grateful for that. But he healed me."

"Mare and Aura are always like that, Harry," Hermione said. "You'd think they'd act their age. Which is 76, incidentally. And yet they act younger than us. Of course, you'd better not underestimate them. Mare is one of our best mages, and Aura is a skilled combatant and beast tamer."

"And we are entirely at your service, my lord," Aura said, bowing, as did her brother.

"Can we…I dunno, quit with the 'my lord' stuff?" Harry asked. "I mean, I prefer people to just call me Harry. And now that I come to think about it, how did I become the heir to this Ainz Ooal Gown stuff?"

"Through your mother, Harry," Hermione said. "During the early 20th Century, the Ainz Ooal Gown bloodline was already reduced to few members. An ambitious young wizard by the name of Grindlewald took it into his head to demand the current head of the line to ally with him. However, the-then Ainz Ooal Gown refused, and the line was decimated. However, a Squib line was overlooked, one that became part of the Evans family, and this line Grindlewald overlooked or ignored. Those under the banner of Ainz Ooal Gown, however, were forced into hiding. Others tried to avenge themselves on Grindlewald, only to find him defeated by Albus Dumbledore in the dying days of the Second World War. When they tried to kill him then and there, Dumbledore attacked them, and made a vow to prevent the line of Ainz Ooal Gown from rising again."

"At the time of your parents' death at Voldemort's hands, there was still an Ainz Ooal Gown leading us, but with no direct heirs," Albedo said. "We had been acting against Voldemort, for he wanted our subjugation and destruction when we refused an alliance, but the fools at the Ministry believed us to be either his thralls, or just targets for extermination anyway. My own parents were murdered by overzealous Aurors," she said bitterly. "Shalltear's parents were murdered by vampires Voldemort had in his employ, made examples of as traitors to their species. When our prior lord perished with no issue after the war, there were no more candidates left, save for yourself. Of course, that meant that we had to be careful. Leaving aside the fact that we weren't sure whether you would be suitable, there was also your fame in the magical world. We also had little idea where you were. It was decided to send a spy to Hogwarts, one who wouldn't trigger the wards that would alert Dumbledore to the presence of a demon or a vampire. Hermione's parents had been acting as our eyes and ears in mundane society. Given her magical ability, we asked her to be our spy within Hogwarts. Gorgons would not trip the wards, though her abilities were sealed to be sure."

"Which would have been fine, if there wasn't a _Basilisk_ slithering around," Hermione remarked. "I was sent to keep an eye on you, evaluate you as an heir, and perhaps even train you covertly. Becoming your friend was an accident, but I don't regret that. Beyond Albedo and Shalltear, I didn't have many friends. I am pretty much like that normally. We're still friends, aren't we?"

"…Yeah. I don't care if you're a Gorgon, and frankly, I probably wouldn't have reacted well if you told me sooner. But, well, one question. About your eyes…"

"Oh, you're wondering why I'm not petrifying or killing anyone nearby? Secondary nictating eyelids, blocks my gaze from affecting anyone I don't want to hurt. Gorgons are similar to Basilisks, but I guess Voldemort told that Basilisk not to use its eyelids."

"Huh…"

Albedo, after a moment, looked over Harry, and said, "Well, Mare, I believe your healing magic has done a superlative job. Good work. I would expect nothing less when giving our lord healing."

"Th-thank you, Albedo," Mare stammered.

"Well then, it's time that you came along with us, Harry," Albedo said. "It is time to meet your people…"

* * *

He found himself able to walk, despite the condition he had been in when Albedo, Shalltear, and Mare had rescued him from the Dursleys. So he followed the others as they led him through various corridors. He wasn't quite sure why he was going along with this. Maybe it was because these people had saved his life, and despite being monsters with a contempt for humans, they had helped him when nobody else could or, more to the point, would. Maybe it was because he just wanted to go along with the flow, until he could figure out what was going on.

Or maybe it was because they were offering him power, and it was like a draught of water to a thirsty man, as power was to the powerless.

He would NOT be like Voldemort. He would not kill anyone because of their magical blood or lack thereof. And he didn't intend to let Voldemort run around killing Muggleborns out of an idiotic preconception of superiority. But if someone made themselves his enemy, then their days would be numbered. Dark thoughts, but while his morality hadn't quite died at the Dursleys, it had changed somewhat.

Soon, they entered a chamber, a vast opulent throne room with columns and banners hanging. An older man with aquiline features, white hair and beard, and in a butler's outfit stood at the ready, with a number of maids next to him. They were easily amongst the most normal people in the room, well, aside from Harry himself, along with Remus and, he could see to his relief, Sirius. There was a massive, hulking insect-like creature. There was a rather sharply-dressed man with glasses…and a long, inhuman tail. It was pretty much a menagerie.

Albedo moved forward. "Everyone, I bring the most excellent of tidings!" she declared. "Our lord and master has made a full recovery! May I present to you Harry Potter, the heir to the throne of Ainz Ooal Gown!"

 **CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, Harry's gotten more exposition, as well as having met Aura and Mare. Plus, can you see Albedo sitting down to watching** ** _Pride and Prejudice_** **? Or Shalltear watching a** ** _Dracula_** **film?**

 **And is it me, or is Mare basically Gasper Vladi from** ** _Highschool DxD_** **?**

 **1\. If you're wondering about this, the name 'Momonga' comes from a Japanese flying squirrel (no, really!), so this is an indirect reference to Momonga, or at least his name.**

 **2\. I thought Ainz Ooal Gown sounded like Gobbledegook, and I made up what it means. I know of where it comes from in the novels, thanks to the Wiki.**


	4. Chapter 3: Hit the Ground Running

**CHAPTER 3:**

 **HIT THE GROUND RUNNING**

The next morning, Harry's awakening, while considerably less painful, was still somewhat disconcerting. In fact, he realised that he wasn't alone in bed. He was currently the filling in a Harry sandwich.

On his right was Hermione, her snoring gentle, quiet, hissing slightly, her hair writhing slightly. On his left was Albedo, clutching at his arm. And sitting near his legs was Shalltear, who was clearly very awake, and very amused. Thankfully, the four of them were dressed in decent enough pyjamas, with Shalltear's having cartoon bats on them.

The bedroom they were in was luxurious, and opulent, being part bedroom and part study, with a dark wooden desk and a number of bookshelves around the place. As far as the bedroom for a lord of monsters was concerned, it was actually quite nice. No skull or bone motifs, just pleasant décor.

He thought back to yesterday, well, last night. In the throne room, at Albedo's direction, the gathered monsters had pledged allegiance to him. The butler was Sebas Tian, while his little maid coterie were the Pleiades, all of them not human. The man with the glasses and demonic tail was Demiurge, while the massive insect creature was Cocytus.

Afterwards, a rather luxurious dinner followed, though Harry soon had to go to sleep. The day's events had tired him out. Leading him to this.

"We didn't…?" Harry asked Shalltear quietly.

"Nope. Though we could if we wanted to, Harry," Shalltear said with a smirk. "You're very warm."

"Uhh, thanks, I guess?"

The vampire chuckled. "Oh, don't need to be so coy, Harry. True Vampires are not the living dead, though we are demons and monsters. But we do subsist on the blood of the living. Of course, I also like warmth. And magic. You tingle with it." She laid herself down, lying across his legs, almost like a cat, even getting a feline smirk on her face. "And you're a looker, scrawniness aside. I can see why Hermione likes you. She's a bit of a goody two-shoes for a monster, but she's a good friend in the end."

"Quiet, lamprey," murmured Albedo, half-asleep. "Some of us need our beauty sleep. Mmm, Lord Harry smells nice."

Hermione roused herself, blinking. "Ugh, I need tea."

"Hermione, what would your parents say if you were in bed with me?" Harry asked.

"If it were anyone but a long-term friend, nobody would ever find the body," Hermione said. "Well, except in a statuary somewhere. Actually, there's a funny story my father used to tell about one of his ancestors and Michelangelo. Let's just say that some of Michelangelo's sculptures…aren't actually sculptures."

Albedo, reluctantly, stirred, and propped herself up on her elbows. "I can't wait until we do the fun stuff."

"Albedo, we promised. If we're going to share him, we do it when we're 16," Hermione said. "This is just acclimatising Harry to being in close proximity to us."

"Acclimatising suggests a more gradual process, Bookwyrm," Albedo retorted gently.

"We're wearing pyjamas, as opposed to nothing," Hermione pointed out.

"Ah. Good point."

" _Not really_ ," Hermione hissed to Harry in Parseltongue. " _But I thought you would want someone to comfort you first thing in the morning, and, well, these two decided to join in._ " In English, she asked, "Did you sleep well, Harry?"

"Yeah. Umm…why do you keep calling Shalltear a lamprey, Albedo?"

"Because, well, that face she has there? True Vampires look different. It's a transformation, a glamour," Albedo said.

"Yep. Your menagerie of a so-called family got to see it before they died," Shalltear said with a grin, a grin that faded. "You…don't want to see it."

"Why not? I mean, you've got this thing about being friends with me, right? Friends don't hide things from each other."

"Oh…I never thought of it like that." She closed her eyes…and then, changed.

The first thing he noted was the mouth, a round hole lined with teeth, like a leech or a lamprey, from which a long, sharp tongue waggled. The eyes were now just glowing red orbs, the ears pointed, the hair wild. It was certainly monstrous. Harry's first instinct was to recoil away in horror.

Instead, after a moment's hesitation, he gently leaned forward, and hugged her. "Maybe I didn't want to see it…but I've seen it now. Shalltear…thanks. For showing yourself to me…and killing them."

After a moment, Albedo remarked, "Well, this goes to show how magnanimous our lord is."

"Quiet, Albedo, you're spoiling the moment," Hermione hissed gently. "At least you look sexy as you are in your true form(1). Damned Succubus…"

Harry tried to ignore them, instead continuing to hug Shalltear. He felt her shift, and she was, once more, the pale-skinned pretty girl she was earlier. A considerably more genuine smile was on her face. "Thanks, Harry, for being kind. But I will stay this way for you. If you see me like this normally, I may be losing control over my blood frenzy."

"I'll get used to it. There's a lot of things I'll be getting used to," Harry said. "Like sharing a bed with you three. I mean, why?"

The three girls looked at each other, before Hermione said, "The three of us agreed, Harry, that if you were willing, we would gladly act as your lovers. A few Ainz Ooal Gowns were known to have multiple lovers by mutual consent, and despite our occasional arguments, we three have been friends for years. We would even agree to having some of the Pleiades in on it."

"The who?"

"The maids Sebas Tian was leading," Albedo explained patiently. "They are also your bodyguards."

"Ah." _This whole 'three willing girlfriends' thing is going to take some getting used to_ , he thought. _Like being Lord of the Monsters, that Hermione is one of them, and I'm probably going to have Magical Britain after my arse when they find out…_

 _…Including Dumbledore_.

With a thrill of horror, he remembered what he had been told yesterday. That Dumbledore had made it his life's mission to prevent the rise of the Ainz Ooal Gown line again. And now, he was that heir. Had Dumbledore known all this time? Or had he just made Dumbledore an enemy?

Harry's first instinct was to curse out these three girls around him for dragging him into this, but he stopped himself. Hermione, despite her deception, had been a good friend. And Albedo and Shalltear had saved his life. Not to mention Dumbledore had left him with the Dursleys, and sent him back there. Despite the fact that Harry reported to him the cupboard under the stairs, the indentured servitude, the abuse, the barred windows just after first year, and Marge being an absolute bitch. No, he was still sent back, with Dumbledore telling him he was exaggerating. Either he was an idiot…or he was being wilfully negligent, if not worse.

And the rest of the wizarding public didn't care, or at least not enough to help. Hell, neither did the Muggles. If they were truly sincere in their devotion to him, then these monsters were the first people to truly care about Harry. Though why they wanted him to lead them while he was still so young, he had no idea. Harry had a few achievements of his own, but aside from Quidditch, most of them were born from desperate situations.

Well, that decided him. This was the first real step to his destiny. He wasn't going to stop Voldemort to save Magical Britain. No, he was going to stop Voldemort for his friends, and for himself. If he had to gain power to protect his friends, even if it was dark power, he would. Even if they hated him afterwards. Even if Ron turned his back on him, even if he broke off their friendship, Harry would protect him as long as Ron didn't become his outright enemy…

But on Harry's terms entirely. Nobody else's.

* * *

After showering and dressing, Harry, along with the three girls, were greeted by Sebas Tian, who had come to begin the basic education needed for a ruler of Ainz Ooal Gown. Sirius and Remus had accompanied him.

As part of his education for his duties, Harry was being taught about the place they were in, the Tomb of Nazarick. He frowned when he saw the various levels on the map. "It's like something out of an RPG," Harry muttered.

"It's hardly surprising, my lord," Sebas said. "As a means of fundraising, our previous lord actually collaborated with Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson on the creation of _Dungeons and Dragons_. Indeed, I believe he made suggestions to Gygax about the _Tomb of Horrors_ adventure for that game. The Tomb itself, however, was once the underground fortress of Nazarick, who was the Ainz Ooal Gown at the time that King Arthur ruled Britain. Indeed, there was something of a non-aggression pact between Arthur and Nazarick, negotiated by Merlin. However, Morgaine, sadly, put something of a spanner into the works."

"Are these just defences or are they homes for the…people I'm lord over?"

"Both, my lord," Sebas said. "But you need not concern yourself with the defences. They are run by Floor Guardians, of which Shalltear is one. You have met most of the others. And now that her abilities are unlocked, Hermione is now stronger than she was, both physically and magically. Indeed, Mare's scans of you suggest that you two have much stronger magic than a boy your age normally would, though much of it is bound. We wished to wait until you were back to full health before attempting that."

"Undoing bindings that have been there for so long can be traumatic," Albedo explained. "While you were still healing, doing so could easily have killed you. Which would have rendered us rescuing you from those base creatures moot."

"Yeah, seriously, did they raid a zoo or something to populate that house? I counted a giraffe, a walrus, and a baby warthog," Shalltear remarked snidely. "Oh, and a dead owl, but…well, I knew that was yours, Harry. Sorry we couldn't help her. She was a beautiful thing before that corpulent cretin murdered her."

"Indeed," Albedo said. "Unfortunately, we lack the ability to resurrect anything outside the Tomb. Within the Tomb, the laws of Life and Death can be bent somewhat. And the line of Ainz Ooal Gown does have considerable power in the realm of necromancy. Especially when it came to intersect with the Peverell blood you have in your veins, courtesy of your father."

"Come again?"

"The Peverell family, Harry," Sirius said. "It is thought that they were the descendants of the Three Brothers from the old fairytale about the Deathly Hallows. The short version of the story was that, supposedly, Death granted three brothers relics: the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the Invisibility Cloak. The first brother was murdered for his supposedly 'unbeatable' wand. The second committed suicide when the Stone only brought a shade of his lover back from the grave. The third brother survived to live to a ripe old age, so the story goes."

"The truth is similar, but somewhat different in the details," Sebas said. "The three brothers were actually sent to assassinate the Ainz Ooal Gown of the time, a noted necromancer considered to be Death himself by reputation. That Ainz Ooal Gown managed to trick the first two brothers into taking relics he himself had created in exchange for his life, relics he cursed to lead to their deaths. The third brother, however, changed his allegiance to Ainz Ooal Gown, and in exchange, he was given the Cloak to act as a spy for Ainz Ooal Gown, something his descendants had forgotten. Time and legend obscured the truth. However, my father was in the service of Ainz Ooal Gown at the time."

"So, you are…?" Harry began to ask.

"Old. Many of us here are immortal, though invincible is another matter," Sebas said. "Some of the line of Ainz Ooal Gown have found means of immortality, or at least long life, though there are some means that we will not countenance. Horcruxes for example. Speaking of which, when we unbind your magic, we will have to remove the one in your scar."

"Wait, what?!" Sirius yelped as Harry stared at Sebas. "What's a Horcrux?!"

Remus growled. "Foul magic. I only heard rumours while I was studying Defence Against the Dark Arts, but it's one of the worst."

"Then, kindly elucidate, Mr Lupin," Sebas said.

"Okay. A Horcrux is…like a phylactery, a receptacle containing a soul. Only, it's a fragment of a soul. You use a ritual, and then commit an act of cold-blooded murder. That splits your soul, and you put half of it into a physical object. But why is there one in Harry? Voldemort cannot have wanted to make one of Harry. Maybe from the act of killing Harry, but…"

"I can guess," Sebas said. "Your information is correct, Mr Lupin, though lacking in detail. I understand why: most would destroy the information about such rituals. The ritual itself is perhaps one of the most vile ever created for magic. Few of the Ainz Ooal Gown line would ever contemplate it, even our most darkest rulers. In any case, normally, removing a Horcrux would require the destruction of the object, but there are obscure rituals we have for removal that can be coupled with those removing the binds on your magic. We would not dare jeopardise your life, my lord, unless we were sure we could ensure your safety."

"Exactly, Harry," Albedo said vehemently. "I mean, my lord," she added hastily, blushing slightly.

"Albedo, I said you could call me Harry," Harry said. "Hermione managed it, Shalltear managed it, why not you?"

"I'm sorry, I'm so used to thinking of you as the Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, Harry," Albedo said. "And Harry…is a rather pedestrian name for the next Ainz Ooal Gown, isn't it? It's rather boring, isn't it?"

"I'll be honest, I'm okay with that. What, you're expecting me to call myself Hadrian or something?"

"…If that pleases you as much as it pleases me, Harry…"

"She's smitten with you," Hermione sighed. "And I thought Ginny had it bad. Though at least Albedo doesn't have the whole fairytale ideal of you in her head."

"And judging by what reports you brought me of her, I am unimpressed," Albedo remarked, crossing her arms underneath her chest. "Of that family, the only ones who interest me at all are the Twins and the oldest two brothers."

"Ron's my friend," Harry said irritably.

"He won't be for much longer, I'm sure," Hermione said with a sigh. "Their family is pretty rabidly anti-Dark, even if the Dark thing isn't actually evil. He probably will be our enemy when we make our true intentions known. I'm sorry, Harry. I know he was your first friend. But…"

Harry grimaced at the thought. "Just…we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I don't want to lose either of you…"

"If he is a true friend, my lord," Sebas said, "he will stay by your side, regardless. As much as many of us despise humans, allies in their ranks are better than enemies."

Harry hoped that was the case. He didn't want to lose his first friend. He felt contempt towards most of Magical Britain, true, but Ron had been his friend. So had the Twins, and, well he guessed he could call Ginny a friend too. But would their friendship endure this?

 **CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Who knows?**

 **1\. I know it's hinted that Albedo, like Shalltear, has a true form in** ** _Overlord_** **canon that's very different to the one we normally see. For this story, Albedo IS in her true form.**


	5. Chapter 4: Full Potential

**CHAPTER 4:**

 **FULL POTENTIAL**

Sirius watched pensively as Remus, Mare, Shalltear, and a couple of the other monsters carefully drew out the ritual circle in the room they were going to hold it in. Next to him was Sebas, the stoic, somewhat gruff but good-natured butler supervising. And he had to wonder how he got into this mess. Oh, wait, he did know. Hermione had slipped him (and Remus) covert notes to head to her parents' home. And then, he was sent here. Under Azkaban, the very place he had attempted to escape. Irony abounded.

"Are you sure this will work?" Sirius asked.

"Few things are absolute," Sebas said. "However, we are going to keep the risk to a minimum. Mare may have confidence issues, but he also is one of our best mages. So too is Shalltear, and Shalltear already likes Harry, so she would not dare make a mistake."

Sirius nodded, though his qualms remained. After a moment, he remarked, "Hard to believe that you have what is effectively an entire city underneath Azkaban. If I knew about Harry having links to you guys, I would have asked for your help."

"I doubt you would have gotten it," Sebas said. "The Black family has been enemies of Ainz Ooal Gown for some time, if only because they detest any dark creature they cannot dominate. We only brought you in on Hermione's say-so."

"And subjected me to interrogation," Sirius muttered, thinking back to his arrival here. "Though I'm grateful to you for the refuge. It'd be better than going on the run overseas, or being holed up in my old family home. Plus, there, I'd have to put up with Kreacher, whereas your maids, those…Pleiades, you called them? I mean, I knew my family were into the whole astronomical naming thing, but that's actually a neat name. And they're smoking hot. Well, until that one, Narberal, was it? She sent me into a wall."

"Narberal is somewhat misanthropic, or at least more than the norm here," Sebas said. "I raised Albedo and Shalltear as my own children when their parents perished. I would like to think I reduced their misanthropy somewhat. As for the other Pleiades, I would kindly ask you not to flirt with them, if for the sake of your safety rather than their virtue. As many of us are, they are of monster blood. Yuri is a Dullahan, Lupusregina…"

"Is a werewolf, yes, I know. I've been around Moony enough to know the smell."

"Indeed. Narberal is a shapeshifter, a Doppelganger," Sebas continued. "Shizu's full name is CZ2128, though we call her Shizu. She is a form of automaton the Muggles call a robot, and she was a pet project of Harry's predecessor. Solution is a Shoggoth. And Entoma is a humanoid offshoot of Acromantula, or at least that's the best way to describe her to those unfamiliar with the more obscure magical creatures."

Sirius thought back to those various maids, and winced. "So…"

"Of the ones I mentioned, I would imagine that Yuri would be most receptive to your advances, as long as it does not interfere with her duties. Solution, however, has something of a bad habit of absorbing anyone who tries to make advances on her, and Entoma would consider eating you alive as well. Of course, they have been warned against killing you, as I am sure that would displease our lord. But I would suggest not pushing your luck."

"Eh, wouldn't be the first time a woman tried to kill me because I was a bit too obvious with the flirting," Sirius said. "Even in jest. There was this one time with my cousin Bella shortly before my OWLs that ended with her trying to use the Cruciatus on me. She never could take a joke."

Mare scurried over, and bowed. "Sebas, sir, the ritual circle is finished. We have double-checked it. All that is needed is Lord Harry, and we can begin."

"Harry is with Hermione and Albedo," Shalltear said, coming over to join Mare. "I'll go and fetch them." With a curtsey, she then left the room.

"…You know, I don't know whether to be elated and jealous that my godson has gotten himself a willing harem so young, or nervous that they're monsters," Sirius remarked.

"His safety is our priority, Lord Black," Sebas said. "You have no need to be nervous on his behalf…from us, anyway."

"Still not reassuring," Sirius said. At this, the faintest of sardonic smirks touched Sebas' lips, albeit fleetingly.

Soon afterwards, Harry was led in by Hermione, Albedo, and Shalltear. "I cannot lie, my lord," Sebas said. "The ritual will be painful, even with the potions given to you. It will unlock your full potential, even if you will need training in how to use it. However, between removing bindings and the Horcrux, it will be painful. My apologies in advance."

"I'll deal with it," Harry said grimly.

 _Harry, already you're too-used to pain_ , Sirius thought. _Damn you, Dumbledore. Moony told me that you warned him against finding Harry, lest a werewolf be executed by the Ministry for adopting the Boy Who Lived. He didn't see it as a threat at the time, just a warning. James and Lily didn't care, and I know you've probably sealed their wills. I wonder, did you mean for Harry to survive Voldemort? Were you shaping him up to be a puppet for you if he lived? Or were you just putting him into fatal situations, hoping that he'd either die and rid you of the Horcrux and an heir to Ainz Ooal Gown, or else live and become your weapon?_

He could only watch helplessly as his godson laid down in the middle of the ritual circle, helped by Albedo, Hermione, and Shalltear. Then, they left the circle, with Mare preparing to activate the ritual. "I'm starting the ritual, Harry," Mare whimpered.

"Do it," Harry said.

* * *

As noted before, Harry was no stranger to pain. In fact, if he was a masochistic sort, he'd probably be a connoisseur by now. As it happened, this was probably about as bad as being bitten by a Basilisk, only, no Fawkes to cry into his wounds. He felt like his very blood and bones were on fire, and if the potions he had taken were taking effect, he dread to think what it was like without them, he thought with the last coherent parts of his mind.

He felt his heart stop briefly, and then, an icicle seemed to stab itself through his skull. He felt something ooze from his scar, accompanied by an inhuman screaming that he was sure hadn't come from his mouth. After all, he had already screamed himself hoarse, and could only manage a strangled snarl instead. Then, something seemed to explode within his chest, one, twice, thrice. He spasmed and convulsed, feeling fire and ice run through his veins, before the pain finally washed away, and he subsided. He hadn't even realised he had blacked out until he felt the shaking, and opened his eyes blearily to find the three girls, along with Sirius, Remus, Sebas and Mare, looking down at him in concern. He tried to say, _I don't want to go through_ _ **that**_ _again if I can help it_ , but the instant he tried, he began coughing. And he ached all over.

"Don't try to speak yet, Harry," Mare said, concerned, gently pushing aside the girls and touching Harry's throat with his staff. A soothing wave of energy washed through Harry from the effeminate Dark Elf's staff. "Is that better?" he asked nervously.

"Much better, thanks, Mare," Harry said, shooting the nervous boy a grateful look. Well, he said boy, but Mare was over five times Harry's age. "Merlin, did anyone get the number of the truck that ran me over?"

Harry's joke, while somewhat poor, had the others laughing, albeit nervously. Sebas smiled slightly instead of laughing, before he cleared his throat pointedly. "With any luck, that will be all we need."

Mare nodded, and scurried over to some objects at the edge of the ritual circle he had set up. They looked like ordinary rocks. "In order to increase chances of survival, I placed these stones at the correct points. Removing the bindings and the Horcrux outright would have been more dangerous, so I set the ritual up to transfer the bindings and the Horcrux to other objects. The stones are safe to touch, but the Horcrux one should be destroyed as soon as possible, Harry. We have Basilisk venom on tap, I can use spells that are highly destructive, or we could throw it into one of the acid traps on one of the levels."

He barely stammered his way through his explanation. Clearly Harry's survival and gratitude to Mare helped his self-esteem somewhat. "Maybe we could, I dunno, make a spectacle of destroying it?" Harry asked.

"Oh! That's a good idea, my lor…Harry!" Albedo said. "Mare and Aura are the Floor Guardians in charge of an arena in the forested area of the Tomb. We could do it in front of the denizens of the Tomb! Show them as a taste of what shall befall your enemies! Mare! You can destroy the Horcrux?"

"Easily," Mare said, apparently drawing on all his reserves of confidence to say that word in a confident manner. Or at least what passed for confident with the skittish, effeminate Dark Elf.

"Great, bread and circuses," Hermione remarked cynically. "Actually, I have a better idea. If we are going to make a spectacle of it, can we have Harry destroy it? As a symbolic gesture of what he will do to his enemies?"

"Hmm, actually, that's a good idea," Albedo mused. "Well done, Hermione. Mare, tell your sister that we shall need Basilisk venom in as large quantities as she can manage. Sebas, would you be so kind as to announce an assembly in the 6th Floor Arena?"

"Very well. It will take some time to gather everyone. I must go forthwith…"

* * *

Harry marvelled at how they fit so much underneath Azkaban. From what little Sebas and Albedo had managed to teach him so far, it was within a pocket universe, one created by Nazarick centuries ago. Indeed, that was why the denizens named it his Tomb, for they considered it a monument to his greatness.

To put it into perspective, the arena he was in rivalled the Colosseum, no, even the modern sports stadiums in size. You could easily have games of soccer, cricket, or Quidditch here. You could hold virtually every Olympic track and field event. Or you could hold gladiatorial contests, like those the Romans loved to watch. The sand beneath his feet seemed to feel almost bloodstained.

And the seats were filled. While not every denizen of the Tomb was here, it felt like it. He felt their attention acutely. This was worse than when Albedo had declared him to be the next Ainz Ooal Gown. At least there, there were maybe a little under a couple of dozen there. Here, there were thousands, watching him.

Earlier in his education at Hogwarts, he had been disturbed to find that people thought of the Boy Who Lived in disturbingly messianic tones. And now, here he was, expected to be the saviour, the leader, of these people. People who were considered monsters by the human race, wizard and Muggle alike.

They said that they had unbound his power, but he didn't feel powerful. In fact, he felt small under the scrutiny of so many people. He felt like a bacterium under a microscope.

Unbidden, a song seemed to come up in his mind. He didn't think he had heard it at all before, and yet, it seemed to be almost encouraging him…

 _It's like a virus in my body while I'm dreaming,_

 _When I wake up, all that's left of me are bones,_

 _I'm in a panic! Get out and hurry_

 _Oh, there are mysteries and many miseries_ …

Hermione, Albedo and Shalltear were with him, along with Remus, Sirius, and the Dark Elf twins. He had support here. He mustn't forget that.

He closed his eyes, gathered himself, and took the plunge, casting the _Sonorous_ charm that Hermione taught him on the way down. He called out, his voice as loud as any Muggle loudspeaker could make it, "GREETINGS, DENIZENS OF THE TOMB OF NAZARICK! I STAND BEFORE YOU, HARRY POTTER, DECLARED AS THE HEIR TO THE SEAT OF AINZ OOAL GOWN!"

 _Dead or alive, I'm on the brink of self-destruction_

 _As I'm roaming left and right on my way to hell,_

 _An invitation to come disappear,_

 _We're dancing 1, 2, 3 steps on this dark stage_ …

"AS HEIR TO THAT POSITION, I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SAFETY OF ALL OF YOU HERE, AND I FEEL THAT RESPONSIBILITY ACUTELY! YOU MAY SWEAR UNDYING LOYALTY TO ME, BUT WHAT USE IS THAT LOYALTY IF I CANNOT PROTECT YOU FROM YOUR ENEMIES AND MINE? OUT THERE, THERE IS A DARK LORD WHO CLAIMS TO BE MORE THAN A MAN, BUT IS ACTUALLY LESS THAN ONE! HE DEBASES HIMSELF WITH VILE RITUALS, ALL FOR EXTENDING HIS OWN MISERABLE EXISTENCE! AND HE WILL NOT HESITATE TO END YOURS IF HE CANNOT WIN YOUR LOYALTY!"

 _Raise your flag, march on fight,_

 _Break your mask and show some pride,_

 _While this war just sends a shiver down my crooked spine_ …

Harry pointed to the stone containing the Horcrux, currently held gingerly by Mare, who was wearing thick gloves. "THAT STONE CONTAINS A FRAGMENT OF THE SOUL OF TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE, WHO STYLES HIMSELF AS LORD VOLDEMORT! HE CLAIMS TO BE A PUREBLOOD, BUT HE LIES! HE ADMITTED AS SUCH TO ME HIMSELF IN A MOMENT OF SUPREME ARROGANCE! HE THINKS HIMSELF IMMORTAL! THIS IS BUT THE FIRST STEP TO PROVING HIM WRONG!"

 _Wars and sword, tears and blood,_

 _Feel my heart begin to race,_

 _As I laugh in this bloodbath we made!_

At a nod from Harry, Mare placed the stone on the ground, and backed away, though not before giving Harry the protective gloves. Harry was already wearing an enchanted apron and boots, and Aura gingerly gave him a carefully enchanted carafe filled with Basilisk venom. Even the enthusiastic Dark Elf was careful around the substance.

 _Can someone give me the answer to my question?_

 _Where's my soul? Where's my heart?_

 _Am I losing my own self?_

"BEHOLD WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE ENEMIES OF AINZ OOAL GOWN!" Harry roared, before he upended the carafe over the stone. It emitted a shriek of agony, dark smoke erupting from it that took the form of Voldemort's face.

 _Don't you hesitate, go this way!_

 _I don't know, and I don't care,_

 _Are you not entertained now?_

 _I'll just keep surviving,_

 _I just cannot hide at all,_

 _I am not to fall a victim,_

 _I will continue living in this_

 _Misery-driven world!_

The applause that erupted, the cheers and clapping were like thunder, like a volcano erupting, like an earthquake. Harry felt like he had truly taken an irrevocable step into the darkness. But frankly, he was fine with that. If the light was going to only treat with him when it suited it, but not truly care about him…

…Then it was time to yield to the darkness.

 **CHAPTER 4 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Title drop! And now that Harry has had his power freed, and the Horcrux removed, well, what now? Well, let's find out…**

 **Incidentally, the lyrics are based on Nate 'NateWantsToBattle' Sharp's fandub of OxT's** ** _Clattanoia_** **, the opening theme to** ** _Overlord_** **. I don't own the lyrics or song, obviously.**

 **Oh, and before I go, I've posted the first sample chapter of my second** ** _Overlord_** **crossover in** ** _Quatermass' Compost Heap_** **. It's called** ** _Xenagogy for Belligerent AIs and Dungeon Denizens_** **…and is a crossover with** ** _Red vs Blue_** **…with Church (the Alpha one) taking the place of Momonga. Check it out, see what you think.**

 **Review-answering time! I'm astonished at the attention this story already has. Thanks, guys.**

 **WGWI** **: They will be nerfed enough so that wizards are a plausible threat, but they are still very powerful. Indeed, Albedo and Shalltear are prodigies of their kind.**

 **Guest** **(regarding the House Elves being derived from Dark Elves): Sadly, there's no means to turn Dobby and Winky back, but they WILL become allies of Harry.**

 **Have a Little Feith** **: No, not as far as I know. She's called a Succubus most of the time, though fan speculation about her origins suggest that Albedo from canon is actually a demon called a Nalfeshnee, according to TV Tropes. Here, she is just a Succubus, and the form you usually see is her actual form.**

 **DZ2** **: Thanks for your praise. I'm sure that if you gave** ** _Overlord_** **a go, you'd enjoy it. And, well, I'm a die-hard Harmony fan, so keeping her out of the harem was too hard this time. Plus, making her into a Gorgon actually seemed natural (especially with Harry's Parseltongue), though I did have to hurriedly write in why she couldn't tell Slytherin's Monster was a Basilisk before I posted this story. As for Sebas' name, well, blame his creator, Touch Me (yes, the player in** ** _Yggdrasil_** **called himself Touch Me): this is even commented upon in Team Dai-Gurren's sole episode (so far) of Overlord Abridged. Momonga remarks, sarcastically, "Creative name for a butler." He is also unsurprised when he finds the Pleiades (exotic maids) are labelled as 'Fap Material'.**

 **imortal333** **: Luna is very much a human.**

 **Guest** **(regarding Harry's reaction to Hedwig's death): He was dying, okay? And he's found himself overwhelmed by what happened afterwards. Don't worry, he'll mourn her offscreen.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	6. Chapter 5: The Quidditch World Cup

**CHAPTER 5:**

 **THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP  
**

 _Sometime later, at the Quidditch World Cup_ …

Barty Crouch Senior was not a pleasant man by any stretch of the imagination. The best thing you could say about him was that he was efficient and driven. So when he heard of a VIP who wished to attend the Quidditch World Cup in the VIP box, he scrambled to get that fool Bagman to organise it. As if they didn't have enough to do already organising the bloody Tri-Wizard Tournament! Well, it was all Crouch. Bagman, being the punch-drunk Bludger-concussed moron that he was, couldn't organise a pissup in a brewery.

Count Zaccone was the heir to a minor magical family originally from Italy, so he was told. It certainly had an illustrious reputation despite being a minor family (the Count title came from Italy, so it didn't count much amongst the British), going back, albeit through different names, all the way back to Roman times. But its fortunes waxed and waned, apparently, and the Zaccones were usually reclusive. They didn't have a Wizengamot seat either.

It was a pretty sombre time for Magical Britain, too. Rumours were circulating that Harry Potter was missing, that the Dark Mark had been spotted over the burnt-out shell of his relatives' home. And what remained of the Dursleys suggested that they had been torn apart and butchered before the fire consumed them. Thank goodness the _Prophet_ hadn't picked up on it yet: Rita Skeeter had been trumpeting the Ministry's incompetence in trying to track down Bertha Jorkins, and that was Bagman's fault!

Perhaps it was Sirius Black's fault. Crouch would stake his life and what was left of his reputation on it. Black escaped from Azkaban, and managed to escape from Hogwarts thanks to Fudge and Dumbledore's incompetence! And now, Harry Potter was missing, if not dead. Worse, Black might not have killed him, but perhaps indoctrinated him to become a loyal soldier of Voldemort.

And there was his son to deal with. Not to mention that sycophant Percy Weasley. It gave Crouch a perverse form of delight to call that bootlicker 'Weatherby' and see how long it took for the arse-kissing toady to snap.

Crouch very nearly didn't notice the people approaching him, until he heard a throat being cleared, partly out of politeness, but also to actually indicate there was a throat present. "Mr Crouch, I presume?"

Crouch looked up to find a teenager, perhaps 16 or 17, with aquiline features framed by dark hair, icy green eyes regarding him, dressed rather casually in a shirt and jeans. Flanking him were a pair of girls about the same age. One had black hair, a perpetual, if somewhat odd, smile on her face, and hazel eyes. She wore a white dress. The other had pale skin, hair so blonde it was practically white, and pale blue eyes. She was dressed in a shirt showing a poster from one of those ridiculous Muggle movies about vampires, and a knee-length skirt.

Crouch nodded in approval of their clothes. They certainly looked more like Muggles than most of the idiots attending. That farmer they had rented the lands from was going to be a drooling vegetable after all the Obliviations. "I am. May I ask who you are?"

"You may. I am Count Hadrian Zaccone. These are my escorts, Bianca and Rose. I'm sorry for interrupting your work, but I was wondering if you had any idea where I was supposed to go to be seated? It is nearly time for that, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. Do you mind being seated with others? I have the Weasleys, plus guests, along with the Malfoys being seated in the same section."

"We will sit close to the Weasleys, if that is possible, Mr Crouch," Zaccone said. "Thank you for going to the trouble."

* * *

It was all Harry could do not to curse that dried-up old turd in a suit with the too-neat moustache for what he did to Sirius, though he had to admit, at least Crouch made the effort to look like a Muggle. Hell, he could have passed for a banker or a barrister. The other wizards, though…

Under the names of 'Hadrian Zaccone', 'Bianca Snow', and 'Rose Stoker', Harry, Albedo, and Shalltear were attending the Quidditch World Cup. Hermione was going too, but on the invitation of the Weasleys. Harry had sent off a letter to Ron, stating that he was safe, and that Sirius had rescued him from an attack by someone. Hermione was going to fake receiving the same letter. He was going to let Dumbledore sweat a little before he contacted him…especially now that he was almost certain that the old man was his enemy as much as Voldemort.

It wasn't something he wanted to confront. Despite his anger with him over the Dursleys, amongst everything else, he still had some small regard for the old man. Of course, that finally died when they contacted Gringotts discreetly, and found out that Dumbledore had sealed the Potter wills, citing that he would administer the Potter estates until Harry came of age. No evidence of any theft, but none of the bequests had been filled. And there were a long list of guardians that the Potters listed, before leaving vehement orders that Harry was NOT to be left with the Dursleys.

But that wasn't all he did. The Tomb of Nazarick had many marvels of magical and mundane engineering, and there was a special training room that allowed Harry to train for a day outside, though a year would pass inside. He, along with Hermione, Albedo, and Shalltear, trained for quite a while in there, under the tutelage of many of the denizens of the Tomb. So much so, in fact, that while his fifteenth birthday was his latest, in reality, he was closer to eighteen in biological age.

And with that time together came a deepening relationship with Hermione, Albedo, and Shalltear. Their friendship had deepened into love, and then, they had become lovers. Though that was surreal enough. Between Albedo's near-sycophantic lust for him, Shalltear's rather disturbing list of fetishes (and wasn't that an experience, trying to get her to trim the list of things they should try out?), and Hermione's well-read nature, things were… _interesting_ in the bedroom.

Harry using one of the aliases that the head of Ainz Ooal Gown would use when anonymity was needed in the human world. The Zaccone family was the alias for members of Ainz Ooal Gown since the 18th century, and it was an encounter with an Ainz Ooal Gown head using this alias that partially inspired Alexander Dumas in writing _The Count of Monte Cristo_. He even based Edmond Dantes' persona as the Count on the Zaccone he had met, even using the name for the Count's 'real' surname(1).

One of the side benefits of being Ainz Ooal Gown was that, by using one of special rings (which Sirius called the Bullshit Rings(2) because of the ridiculous number of things they could do), they could not only communicate mentally, but teleport to and from the Tomb, as well as to any point within the Tomb itself. However, from the Tomb, they needed to exit at an established point. Still, much better than the Floo, Apparition, Portkeys and the Knight Bus. Much more comfortable.

With the Tomb situated just below Azkaban, they had begun to kidnap a number of Death Eaters who had been imprisoned there, faking a wave of plague that forced the Auror guards to flee to the mainland. When the Ministry investigated later, all they'd find were putrefying bodies. And no Dementors to report anything: Harry, in a demonstration of his newfound power, had unleashed a Patronus so powerful, it actually _disintegrated_ them. The only Dementors left were those on the mainland. Harry felt somewhat grimly satisfied at that: the Dementors had come after him and his friends, along with Sirius, and had hurt him too many times for his liking. The Death Eaters they had stolen, they were currently interrogating for information.

As they were escorted to the VIP box, Albedo sighed quietly. _Look at all these fools, these humans wholly unaware that their betters walk among them. All for a game of sport. Though at least there is a good chance of injury and death._

 _Albedo, I enjoy playing this game_ , Harry chided gently.

 _Ah, sorry, Harry! I just…while I can admire the skill the players use, it's hard for me to enjoy these sports. And the wizards don't have that many magical sports anyway. Even the mundane humans have more sports. And those games!_

 _Yeah. I love that one we got for that console some time ago_. Mortal Kombat _, wasn't it?_ Shalltear asked. _GET OVER HERE!_ she roared, in an imitation of Scorpion, before chuckling.

 _Toasty!_ Harry yelped.

Hermione's voice broke through. _Guys, just so you know, I'm heading up with the Weasleys. I'm going to have to act like I don't know you, okay?_

 _That's fine, Hermione_ , Albedo said.

As Hermione came up with the Weasleys, Harry watched them with fresh eyes. He noted that Ron and Ginny looked rather morose. In fact, they all did. Maybe they were anxious to know where he was. He wished he could tell them, but the plan was to meet them on the Hogwarts Express. And in any case, how would the Weasleys respond to knowing he was, effectively, a Dark Lord in charge of a substantial army of monsters? Not only that, but he had learned necromancy, being able to summon and reanimate corpses to do his bidding, and all sorts of arts that would doubtless be labelled as dark. Hell, he even had an instant-kill curse, _Grasp Heart_ , based on something the original Ainz Ooal Gown used. It may need to be used at close range, but if something needed killing in a really satisfying way…well, what else could be used?

No, he doubted the Weasleys would react well, which saddened him. As much as a git Ron was at times (albeit mostly towards Hermione, with Halloween in his first year and those incidents around Scabbers and the broom being cases in point), he was a friend more often than not.

Then, the Malfoys arrived, and Harry marked them mentally. Lucius, being a Death Eater, and being responsible for that whole Chamber of Secrets fiasco, was on his list. And Draco was one misstep away from being on the list. He just wasn't sure whether to hand Draco over to Shalltear to nom on, or to have Hermione turn him into a statue.

 _Harry, I think there is someone hiding underneath an Invisibility Cloak nearby_ , Shalltear said. _I can smell someone where nobody should be. See the empty seat near the youngest Weasley son?_

 _Keep an eye on them. If they make any moves against us…use your discretion_.

* * *

The match began, though Harry's lovers were irritated to note that the Bulgarians' mascots were Veela, and particularly shameless specimens of those beings. There were some Veela in the Tomb of Nazarick, but these ones were basically exotic dancers barely masquerading as cheerleaders, though their allure barely affected Harry. Albedo had a crystal set into her necklace that acted as a camera, so that those back in the Tomb, including Sirius, could watch the match.

The game itself was pretty good, though the Bulgarians' performance was somewhat lacking, only made up for by the Veela trying to influence the referee. The Bulgarians only managed to get a decent score thanks to Krum, their Seeker, catching the Snitch. He noted that the Weasley Twins had a bet with Bagman to that effect, that Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch.

Still, while some parts were amusing and entertaining, Harry had to admit, he was glad to start heading out of the stadium. They avoided Fudge's attempts to brown-nose, and Lucius Malfoy's curiosity. _You know, I'd never thought I'd say this about a Quidditch match, but I wish I could have stayed at home_ , Harry sent to Albedo and Shalltear. _It's not as exciting as actually playing it. I'd rather have sparred with you, or the Pleiades, or Aura and Mare. At least I could have gotten a workout, honed my skills a little. Did you notice anything about the invisible interloper?_

Shalltear said, _No, he stayed on his best behaviour as far as I could tell. Something about him smelled familiar, though. I mean, it smelled similar to someone else. In fact, it smelled similar to that fool Crouch_.

Albedo frowned. _A relative? But I thought Crouch had no living relatives, at least none similar enough for you to notice, Shalltear._

 _Why?_ Harry asked.

 _Well, shortly after sending your godfather off to Azkaban without a trial, Harry, his son was caught in the company of the Lestranges_ , Albedo explained. _They had been torturing the parents of Neville Longbottom using the Cruciatus. Even now, they lie in St Mungo's, little more than vegetables._

 _Merlin...and I thought Neville had just been squished under his grandmother's thumb_ , Harry thought. _So, let me guess, they sent Crouch's son to Azkaban with the Lestranges?_

 _After a show trial, yes_ , Albedo said. _Barty Crouch Junior didn't last long in Azkaban, so they say, and Crouch Senior's wife followed soon after, with public opinion turning against the man. He had designs on becoming the next Minister of Magic, but got shuffled sideways instead._

 _Well, for sending my godfather to Azkaban without a trial, he's on the list_ , Harry said grimly.

* * *

They had used the rings to head back to Nazarick, only to be summoned back there a couple of hours later, just as they were preparing to head to bed. Hermione had sent an urgent message through the rings: the campground was under attack by drunken Death Eaters. She was helping get the Weasleys to safety, along with Luna, whom they had encountered.

Harry decided to make that the first demonstration of his power. Which was why he quickly donned a concealing cloak, and had Albedo and Shalltear armour up, something that was achieved quickly with magic. Albedo's armour was black, her helmet horned like her head, while Shalltear's was crimson. Her helm usually exposed her face, but she wore a grill in front of it for now, if only to avoid identification.

They transported in time to find a bunch of idiots in dark, hooded cloaks, laughing as they levitated people, humiliating them, while attacking tents. Harry recognised them from when he arrived here: they were the Muggles who owned the field the stadium was set up in. He also saw Arthur Weasley trying to get them down, and failing, along with a few other ineffectual wizards who were trying.

 _Albedo, Shalltear, rescue their victims_. The two armoured figures leapt into the air and snatched them, before landing with them with ease. Harry then put himself between the rioters and the Muggles. "Playtime is over. Or would you prefer a victim who would fight back?" he asked, disguing his voice with a spell.

"Stay out of this," sneered one of the figures unwisely.

Harry just grinned viciously, before he intoned, mentally, reaching out as he did so, _Grasp Heart_.

And he could feel it, the pulsing organ between his fingers, even if his hand wasn't in the man's chest. For a moment, he marvelled, even quailed a little, at the thought of literally having a man's life in his hands.

But then, he reminded himself that this fool had willingly killed for the Dark Lord at least, if not raped and tortured. So, he crushed the man's heart, sending him to the ground.

Another Death Eater, rather foolishly, sent a _Reducto_ at him, only for Harry to dodge. _Hell Fire_ , he intoned mentally, pointing at his victim, and the man was consumed with an agonised scream by diabolical flames that made Fiendfyre look soothing by comparison…and was considerably more controllable.

Soon, Shalltear and Albedo were amongst them, attacking the Death Eaters. The more prudent ones fled. Those that stayed were torn apart ruthlessly, either by Albedo, Shalltear, or Harry's spells.

When all was said and done, and the remaining Death Eaters were dead, they found themselves with the other wizards pointing wands at them. "Identify yourself!" one snapped.

"How dare you point your wands at the ones who saved those people?!" Albedo sneered back. "You imbeciles should be on your knees, asking for a scrap of our lord's gratitude that you barely deserve!"

Harry had to laugh, at least inwardly, at Albedo's tirade. She got somewhat passionate about her misanthropy, occasionally going on rants about humans in general, and wizards in particular, that had him amused. And according to Sebas, she had once been even worse than this. And she usually didn't get to make her feelings known to those who roused her ire.

"Dawlish, don't do anything stupid," Mr Weasley said.

Dawlish, if that was the man who had spoken first, promptly did. "STUPEFY!" he yelled, only for Albedo to swat the spell back at him with the massive bardiche she wielded.

As Dawlish was flung to the ground, unconscious, Albedo said, "My patience is at its end. The next fool to cast a spell won't be so fortunate."

 _What we need is a distraction_ , Harry thought. And he soon got it.

In the distance, he heard someone yell "MORSMORDRE!", and a jet of green fountained into the air, creating a distinctive symbol hanging in the sky…a skull with a serpent emerging from its mouth. The Dark Mark…the emblem of the Death Eaters. The other wizards began to stare in horror.

Harry then remarked, "That is the symbol of a fool whose time has long since passed. I am no Death Eater, and any who cross my path, I shall slay."

"…And who are you?" Weasley asked.

Harry grinned beneath his hood. "You may call me…Nemo(3)." And with that, he, and Albedo and Shalltear used the rings to get back to Nazarick. It had been a profitable evening in the end. He had taken his first step to leaving his mark on the world…

 **CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, Harry's made his debut. Now, just keep in mind, Albedo and Shalltear's armour are like those from the anime, except Shalltear's also conceals her face. She normally doesn't, but when discretion is needed, well…**

 **Review-answering time! There's a few common review questions which I will answer here. No, Harry will NOT have a monstrous form, except maybe his Animagus form. However, a couple of the Pleiades WILL join in with the harem.**

 **Reishin Amara** **: He already knew before Harry came to Nazarick, though he was, understandably, bemused about the whole thing.**

 **Breitve** **: Some Veela, as noted above, do have loyalty to Nazrick, but others don't.**

 **1\. The Count of Monte Cristo's 'real' surname is stated as Monsieur Zaccone by two other characters, albeit two other aliases of Edmond Dantes, who uses multiple aliases in the novel.**

 **2\. Another** ** _Overlord Abridged_** **reference.**

 **3\. As in Latin for 'nobody'.**


	7. Chapter 6: Post-Mortem

**CHAPTER 6:**

 **POST-MORTEM**

Harry's brief appearance had made a splash, and he was glad he gave a frustratingly elusive name as he considered things in the main office of Ainz Ooal Gown. Amongst other things, _The Daily Prophet_ was trumpeting for his arrest for murdering so many 'fine scions of Pureblood society', despite the fact that they were wearing the cloaks and masks of the Death Eaters. Sadly, it seemed like Lucius Malfoy either wasn't one of the rioters, or else had the good sense to flee when Harry started killing the Death Eaters. If he had been killed, it would definitely be all over the headlines.

And the strange thing was, Harry didn't feel all that powerful while doing so. He felt like how Albedo and some of the other denizens felt about attacking humans…like they were crushing insects. It disturbed him a tiny bit to realise he felt nothing for killing those Death Eaters…and unless you counted Quirrell, they were the very first people he had killed. What was more, if he didn't feel like he had tapped into his full power while fighting them…what would actually make him feel like he had exerted himself?

What was more, when they discussed the incident afterwards, Harry and his people realised one thing: whoever cast the Dark Mark was a hardcore Voldemort sympathiser. Even the rioting Death Eaters would be afraid of the rise of Voldemort, if only because they renounced him, or claimed to be under the Imperius. Sirius and Remus doubted that it was Pettigrew's work: that wasn't his style at all. Harry and Albedo had the odd suspicion that whoever was under that Invisibility Cloak that Shalltear had smelled was the culprit…though if they were a Death Eater…why hadn't they gone for Harry?

"My lord, forgive the intrusion," came the unctuous voice of Demiurge as he entered the office. Out of all the prominent denizens of the Tomb of Nazarick, Harry was wary of him, and Demiurge certainly wasn't liked by Sebas Tian. Harry trusted the old but powerful butler. That being said, Demiurge was the spymaster of the Ainz Ooal Gown organisation, and he was something of a necessary evil. He was superlative at his job, and as vicious as the demonic being was, he was useful.

"What is it, Demiurge?" Harry asked as courteously as he could manage. Albedo stood nearby, with Shalltear going to supervise her floors for the time being.

"My lord, two of our human contacts has arrived, Miss Luna Lovegood and her father, Xenophilus," Demiurge said. "Would you like to meet them?"

Harry looked over at Albedo for confirmation, and the Succubus nodded. _We can trust them, Harry, wholeheartedl_ y, she sent via their ring link.

"Very well, show them in."

The pair shown in were rather an interesting duo. Both had somewhat dirty blonde hair and rather dotty expressions and colourful clothing. The girl had earrings in the shape of radishes, and a necklace made of Butterbeer corks, he realised. The girl skipped over and hugged Albedo. "Albedo! Oh, it's been too long!"

Albedo, who usually recoiled from humans, even when disguised as one while walking amongst them, actually laughed and hugged the girl back, her wings wrapping around the girl affectionately. "Luna," she said warmly. "Yes, it has been."

"Yes. You used the Time Chamber, didn't you?" Luna said. She then turned her attention to Harry. "And you're Harry Potter."

The simplicity of the tone she spoke that statement in was interesting. It wasn't like she was noting he was the Boy Who Lived, or, as he was now, the inheritor of the title of Ainz Ooal Gown. She was simply identifying him. "Yes. Luna, was it? They've spoken about you. Albedo and Hermione and the others. It's a pleasure to meet you." He stood and offered his hand, only to be promptly hugged by her. She would have been in the year below him, so she was, what, fourteen at most?

Albedo cleared her throat pointedly, and as Luna released Harry, she said to Demiurge, who was lingering, "Thank you, Demiurge. Please return to your duties." The demonic monster bowed and left.

"Would you prefer a more formal or informal introduction, my lord?" Xenophilus asked.

"Informal's fine, and call me Harry," Harry insisted.

"Normally, I would object," Albedo said, "but Xenophilus and his daughter have been stalwart in their loyalty to our cause for years. Like Hermione, Luna was asked to keep an eye on you during your time at Hogwarts, albeit purely in the form of a spy. She, along with her father, are two of the few humans allowed in the Tomb of Nazarick."

"I like playing with Aura and Mare," Luna said. "And Albedo and Shalltear are good friends. So is Hermione, though she is a bit rigid with her thinking."

"The Lovegoods run a magazine of sorts in the magical world, _The Quibbler_ ," Albedo explained. "The content, however, runs to what would be considered tabloid-style conspiracy theory articles. The readership is relatively small. However, that is, partly at least, camouflage for its real purpose. The articles are actually encrypted news items for monsters with links to Ainz Ooal Gown, as well as a means of sending messages."

"I married into the business somewhat," Xenophilus confessed. "My wife, Pandora, was originally a spy for the people here. I was brought on board when I proved my trustworthiness. Sadly, Pandora died not that long ago, about a year before my little radish was to go to Hogwarts. Magizoology is a passion of mine, as are the magical beings of the world."

"I see. At the risk of sounding rude, why are you here? I presume this isn't a social visit," Harry said.

The Lovegoods didn't seem offended. Instead, Luna got right to the point. "Shortly before the Quidditch World Cup, Daddy and I went on an expedition to Eastern Europe to find interesting magical creatures," she said. "While we were there, we heard rumours about a mysterious entity feeding off animals, even people. Not a vampire, though. It was more like a sort of possession. We also encountered a Ministry employee called Bertha Jorkins in Albania."

"Albania," Harry muttered, thinking back. "Quirrell encountered Voldemort in Albania. And I remember hearing something about Jorkins going missing while we were at the Quidditch World Cup. Sirius said something about her, that she had a good memory, especially for gossip, but not that bright."

"True, but some time ago, Bertha began to have severe memory problems," Xenophilus said.

"Too many Wrackspurts," Luna remarked. "Or maybe the Nargles stole her marbles."

On Harry's bemused look, Albedo shook her head. "She is like that, Harry. Wrackspurts are creatures, she claims, that affect mental clarity, while Nargles are thieves that steal objects like shoes and books and the like."

"Or maybe she was hit with a powerful Memory Charm," Luna added, unfazed by Albedo's assessment of her.

"Maybe it was Lockhart who did that," Harry muttered snidely. Though that was at least something to keep in mind. "Anything else?"

"Few things of relevance, Harry, but we have heard strong rumours, likely to be true, that the Tri-Wizard Tournament is going to be revived at Hogwarts," Xenophilus said.

"Uhh, the what?"

"The Tri-Wizard Tournament, a competition theoretically designed to promote cooperation between the three big magic schools of Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang," Xenophilus explained. "The last one was held in 1792, and was cancelled after the death rate became too much to stomach. I believe a Cockatrice went on the rampage."

 _And here I was hoping for a_ _ **quiet**_ _year at Hogwarts_ , Harry thought sardonically.

"I believe Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch Senior are working to make it safer, though that's a relative term," Xenophilus continued. "It would be restricted to those of age, that is, 18 years old at least. That being said, I have heard rumours of dragons being prepared to being shipped in from Romania."

"Pitting school students against dragons," Harry said, flatly. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm glad I don't have to deal with that."

"It would be a great demonstration of your power, my lor…I mean, Harry. But perhaps it would be best to allow these cretins to wallow in their ignorance before you strike," Albedo said.

Harry nodded. "If we're right about Dumbledore shaping me up to be a weapon, we can't let him see too much, lest he feel threatened. In any case, I would rather be as inconspicuous as I can."

Albedo then spoke up. "Luna, Xenophilus, you live close to the Weasleys. As Hermione is staying there as to avoid suspicion until it is time to head to Hogwarts, her ability to report to us is a little limited, beyond ring communication. And as you are neighbours, you may know things Hermione may not spot. Is there any unusual activity at the Weasleys, any indication that they know of us, or else are working against Ainz Ooal Gown? Any attempts to ensnare Harry with Amortentia, for example?"

"No, no," Xenophilus said. "As much as Molly jokes that she used a love potion to ensnare Arthur, it is exactly that: a joke. At her worst, she is a harridan who henpecks her husband. The rest of the family are fine, their only true faults being their faith in Dumbledore, which is virtually absolute."

"Ron is a little jealous of Harry, though," Luna said. "Both of his fame and his fortune. I am not sure how he would react to Harry being Ainz Ooal Gown, though, or to Hermione being a Gorgon."

Harry leaned back. "Then we will give him a chance. However, if he forfeits it…well, at the least, I will break off our friendship, as much as it saddens me to do so. What about Ginny? The Twins?"

"The Twins would most definitely be allies. Ginny…maybe not. She has lost a bit of the infatuation she has with you, but she would not react well to you being Ainz Ooal Gown."

Harry nodded. "Very well…"

* * *

After more discussion with Luna and Xenophilus, the two were escorted away to see Aura and Mare, and then Shalltear, Cocytus and the Pleiades. "So she's really friends with a lot of those here?" Harry asked.

"Luna is rather non-judgemental for a human," Albedo said. "She has a unique way of looking at the world, and is admittedly amusing. In any case, Harry, I would make a suggestion. We need a bridgehead within Hogwarts, somewhere where we may put a waystone discreetly."

A waystone was what they used for using the Ainz Ooal Gown rings to teleport between the Tomb of Nazarick and other areas. "The Chamber of Secrets, perhaps," Harry mused. "It's underground, you need to be a Parselmouth to open it, and we could even store things Hermione and I may need down there."

Albedo pursed her lips, considering the idea. "Yes…Hermione finished making her modifications to the wards of the castle last year so that our people could enter undetected. Now all she needs is a basic glamour rather than the transformation that locked her abilities away. And as we learned Occlumency while training…"

Harry nodded. "I'm going to sit for my OWLs and NEWTs this year, and so will Hermione. I may arouse some suspicion for being a prodigy, but I don't want to be under Dumbledore's thumb for any longer than I have to. If Dumbledore questions me, I'll just point out how unsafe Hogwarts has been during my time there. Though the problem is being able to declare myself of age so I can get out of his influence completely: the Time Chamber is not something you'd find in many places in the wizarding world, and while I am physically of age, I'm still fifteen on my birth certificate."

"We'll figure something out, Harry," Albedo said, leaning down and kissing him. And once more, Harry was struck by the strangeness of the situation. He was effectively Lord of the Monsters, he had three lovers willing to share, and he was now one of the most powerful mages in the world. Oh, and he was kissing a Succubus with beautiful golden eyes. He actually thought, despite her wonderful figure, that serenely beautiful face, and those gorgeous black wings of her, those eyes were her best feature. In fact, he found the eyes of his lovers to be their most beautiful features, inhuman though they were…though everything else wasn't far behind, he thought, as he gently stroked part of one of her wings, prompting her to moan into his mouth.

Her mouth tasted strange and exotic, cool, but with a vaguely spice-like edge to it. His lovers all tasted different: Shalltear, obviously, tasted of blood, as well of wine. Hermione had a slightly sweet taste, with a slight tang, like a citrus-flavoured ice cream. The tang was from the (harmless) remnants of the venom in her fangs.

They broke off the kiss, and then smiled at each other. "Do you think we'll have any other business soon?" Harry asked.

"No. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Maybe. But if you're thinking about bringing Solution in on it, remember that she's close to Shalltear, so I think we should wait until Shalltear's free before we bring her in out of courtesy."

"No! Although…that's not a bad idea for later," Albedo mused with a smirk. "No, my idea was you, me, and nobody else."

"…Okay, but I'm going to have to make up for it later with Shalltear and Hermione," Harry said.

"Oh, don't worry," Albedo said. "I'll make sure they get their turn with you. But for now…" She giggled as she pulled him out of the office, heading to their bedroom. The privacy wards would certainly be tested out…

 **CHAPTER 6 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **What? Were you actually expecting a lemon? Yeah, no. It'd turn out crap. Anyway, the Lovegoods have shown themselves to be allies of Ainz Ooal Gown, and there's some foreshadowing.**

 **Incidentally, I've just posted the first three chapters of another** ** _Overlord_** **crossover…only it's with a franchise I've been meaning to do a crossover for for a while. It's with** ** _Red vs Blue_** **, it has Church (the Alpha one) taking the place of Momonga, and it's called** ** _Xenagogy for Belligerent AIs and Dungeon Denizens_** **. Go check it out!**

 **Next chapter! The Deadliest Hug in the World! Someone's gonna get the Clementine chiropractic treatment!**

 **Review-answering time!** **Tenzo51** **: We're NOT having a zombie Hedwig. She was too far gone for Harry to do much, and in any case, Albedo and Shalltear basically made 4 Privet Drive her Viking funeral.**

 **Rebask** **: Harry was just trying out his abilities.**

 **Duskrider** **: Wrong Nemo. I'd guess that Nemo was named for Captain Nemo from Jules Verne's books.**

 **DZ2** **and** **Reishin Amara** **: I wasn't deliberately channelling Lelouch. Hell, I haven't even watched** ** _Code Geass_** **, or even read the manga beyond the first volume. If anything, I was probably having Harry channel the characters calling themselves Nemo in Victorian literature. There's Captain Nemo in** ** _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_** **by Jules Verne, and there's the copyist calling himself Nemo in** ** _Bleak House_** **by Charles Dickens (who is ALSO a captain: his real name is Captain Hawdon).**

 **agnar** **: That's your call, but if you don't like, don't read.**

 **I've already answered** **imortal333** **'s question in correspondence, but if you want to see** ** _Overlord Abridged_** **, I've posted the last part of the URL (after the YouTube dot com part) here:**

 **watch?v=vEwFDH3M57g**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	8. Chapter 7: The Deadliest Hug in the

**CHAPTER 7:**

 **THE DEADLIEST HUG IN THE WORLD**

Some nightmares involve some demon pressing down on you as you lay in bed. To Bellatrix Lestrange, though, her current nightmare was being squished alive while standing up, her teeth and nose broken (self-inflicted while trying to escape, to her shame) and her ribs and spine about to go the same way. And the one doing the squishing was her lord and master's most hated enemy, Harry Potter. And it certainly wasn't a nightmare she would wake up from any time soon.

It had seemed so simple, so easy. She had woken up, not in her cell in Azkaban, but in a different place. At first, she thought that her lord, or one of his few remaining loyal underlings outside of Azkaban (though that seemed like an oxymoron) had rescued her, until the cell door opened, and Potter came in, accompanied by her Blood Traitor cousin Sirius, and a number of creatures. And they all called him Ainz Ooal Gown.

Bellatrix remembered the name. Supposedly, it was an underground organisation of monsters and dark creatures, allied under a wizard or witch who was part of an old bloodline, and who adopted the name as a title. They foolishly rejected an alliance with the Dark Lord, and so he ordered their extermination. They had been even more of a thorn in their side than Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix, but thanks to some traitors, as well as dark creatures who had grudges against Ainz Ooal Gown, they were able to decimate the organisation.

Apparently Potter had used her fellow, loyal Death Eaters in experiments in his magic, though not before using Legilimency on them. She was no different. And what was more, despite her barriers, she had been left bare to Potter's probes.

Potter had been furious afterwards, before he ordered that she be given a wand, and to have her brought to the arena. Which was where she was now.

Potter had basically set up a duel between her and himself. He had taunted her by telling her that he wasn't even going to fire any spells at her. And she began firing spell after spell at him. He dodged some, and allowed himself to be hit by others. The Cruciatus did nothing, though she noted he dodged the Killing Curse. Coward. She taunted him time and again as he dodged, either as a Muggle, or else Apparating. A small part of her was actually impressed: he was a pretty skilled fighter, even if all he was doing was dodging like a little bitch.

But she made the mistake of wanting to get close and personal. She wanted to see the light leave his eyes. If she knew that the Dark Lord wanted him alive, she didn't care at this moment. The Dark Lord would forgive her, his most loyal of servants, and, back in the day, his lover. She managed to catch him with a Blasting Curse, sending him sprawling to the ground.

As she approached, he murmured something like, " _Time Alter: Triple Acceleration_." Then, in a blur, he was on his feet, and grasping her in a vicious bearhug. "Huh. That worked. Now, what to do with you?"

"Let me go!" she had yelled. "Let me go, you son of a Mudblood whore!"

His green eyes had narrowed. "That's rich, coming from the inbred, sadistic cow who spread her legs for that snake-faced bastard. Seriously, I'm going to have to scrub out my head with bleach to get rid of what I saw in your memories. Anyway, I don't make deals with bitches(1). You might've noticed that I'm stronger than I should be for my size. It's something my ancestors cooked up, a form of magical strength and durability enhancement. I'm still working on speed, but the Time Alter works well enough for short periods. This, though…it's magically very exhausting and, even with my new reserves, I can't hold it for long. How long I can do so depends on how strong I make myself. At the moment, I've got the strength of five men. Let's ramp it up. You took your time torturing the Longbottoms, amongst so many others. I'm taking my time with you."

And that's how she got to the state she was in now. She had tried everything she could, but with her arms pinned to her sides, she could do little more than kick his shins, or headbutt him. Unfortunately, all the latter seemed to do was break her nose, and most of her teeth. Even now, it was getting harder and harder to breathe. She felt like a balloon, about ready to pop.

"Have you ever heard of the Danse Macabre?" Potter was asking, his emerald eyes glowing like the Killing Curse, and promising inevitable death just as much. "Death is pretty much universal for all of us…but know this, Bellatrix Lestrange, whore of a Halfblood claiming to be a Pureblood…you will die now, and your master will soon follow you."

The surge of anger of her master being called a Halfblood had her try one last time to headbutt him, over and over, until she felt something give in her chest. Several somethings. Distantly, she felt her bladder loosen. Something rose in her throat.

And then…she felt her everything burst and crunch.

* * *

Harry let the twitching lump of bone and meat that was Bellatrix Lestrange flop to the floor of the Arena. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, her tongue protruding from a blood-smeared mouth filled with broken gore-coated teeth that now looked like jagged fangs. With her messy, tangled hair, she looked like an earlier depiction of one of the Gorgons, before their more ophidian features became better known to the Greeks. Obviously, much uglier than his own Gorgon lover. Her spine was snapped, her ribcage crushed, her arms twisted and contorted. She wasn't quite dead, but she was getting that way.

He could, theoretically, revive her as a zombie under his command with the necromancy he had, but for that to work properly, she needed to be more intact than she was now. Besides, he had plans for her body…or at least for her head. Along with those of her husband and brother-in-law. If that weren't the case, he might have tested out a Death Knight spell. That might've worked.

A deafening chorus of cheers erupted from the seated denizens of the Tomb of Nazarick. Once more, he had lived up to their expectations, perhaps even surpassed them. Though he found it hard to bathe in their adulation when he had been bathed in blood. Bellatrix's final act had probably been the most damaging, even if it was only to his dignity: having blood and bile vomited on him as he crushed her innards was not fun. Plus, he felt tired: boosting his strength and durability was exhausting to his magic and his body, even if it was only for a few minutes.

He thought back to his final words to her, that death was inevitable. For now, though, he intended to live for a long time. He hadn't known it, but in the confusion around the aftermath of the Philosopher's Stone saga in his first year, Hermione had actually stolen it from Dumbledore, and left a very good copy in its place. As it happened, Dumbledore hadn't destroyed the Stone at all, but was attempting to figure out how to create one of his own, having deceived the Flamels, who had recently perished…or perhaps they faked their deaths. They had done so before, apparently.

In any case, while Albedo and Shalltear were long-lived, maintaining a youthful appearance for centuries, Harry and Hermione were not, and they intended to use the Elixir of Life to live for centuries, at least until Harry was ready to pass on. Assuming someone didn't kill him first.

Ugh, he needed a bath, badly…

* * *

The bathing areas of the Tomb were like an _onsen_ or hot springs resort, with Albedo and Shalltear had seen fit to join him in the private spring reserved for Ainz Ooal Gown. He had showered first, though, to remove the worst of the filth. Well, the physical filth. He didn't think any amount of washing would get rid of what he saw in Bellatrix's memories, and that wasn't just those of her fucking Voldemort.

Still, it seemed that they had a lead on another Horcrux. After discussion between himself, Sebas, Sirius, Remus and Mare, they knew Voldemort had to have more Horcruxes around somewhere. They were almost certain that the Diary was one, and that was now gone. And while Voldemort had not explicitly stated it to be such, Harry was almost certain that that goblet or cup Bellatrix had been given for safekeeping was another. Which was good, as Mare was formulating a ritual designed to kill Voldemort, or at least eliminate his Horcruxes and leave him vulnerable. However, another Horcrux was needed.

Shalltear was sighing, lying back in the water, her hair let down from its usual ponytail. The two girls flanked Harry in the hot spring. They had done this a few times, though Harry missed having Hermione around. She had to stay with the Weasleys to keep her cover, unfortunately. "Oh, I just loved what you did to her, Harry," Shalltear sighed. "I don't think I've ever heard of a death by bearhug before. What a lovely gout of blood that came from her mouth. I can still smell it on you." She sniffed him deeply, and shivered in delight.

"You did well, Harry," Albedo said. "I think your little duel with Lestrange showed us your power even more than destroying the Horcrux did."

"I'm still coming into that power," Harry said. "My body's not used to having that much power enhancing it, even with training, and I think even now, the amount of power being consumed for the enhancement is enormous. If I included both physical and mental speed with that, it'd go up even more. I'll have to consider the idea Remus gave me to help matters. While my Patronus is a stag, and that may influence what Animagus form I take, it doesn't exactly set it in stone. There are rare circumstances where a wizard can actually choose what form their Animagus takes. It needs a lot of willpower and magic, but I'd like to think I have enough of both. And certain elements of one's Animagus form cross over into your human form in small ways, like senses, physical attributes…even diet."

"There's only a week until you have to head back to Hogwarts, Harry," Albedo pointed out. "Can you do it before then?"

"Remus and Mare have been setting it up for a while," Harry said. "Mare may be scared of his own shadow, but he's a great spellcaster, and I'm glad to have him and Aura by my side. They're like the kid brother and sister I never had."

Albedo and Shalltear knew this. On occasion, whenever he wasn't involved in his duties as Ainz Ooal Gown or other business, training, or engaged in intimate activities with his lovers, Harry made his way to the 6th Floor Arena and spent time socialising with the two Dark Elves. Despite their age, they still acted very much like children, and Harry actually enjoyed the big brother role he played to them. Aura loved showing off the beasts she had tamed, and Mare, once he had come out of his shell a little, loved discussing magic. Interestingly, Mare liked not only fantasy books, but he liked science fiction. The effeminate Dark Elf, of all things, was a fan of _Star Wars_ , and had made it a pet project to create a lightsaber.

"So you think you could do it?" Shalltear asked. "Ooh, I'm becoming excited thinking about it."

"Down, girl," Harry said jokingly to the vampire.

"Room for one more?"

Harry, Shalltear and Albedo looked up, to find Hermione standing there, smiling. "Hop right in," Harry said.

Hermione did so, sighing as she lowered herself into the warm water, the serpents comprising her hair writhing in pleasure. "I'm not exactly cold-blooded, but still, nothing like a hot bath."

"How did you get away from the Weasleys?" Albedo asked.

"I just told them I wanted to go home. They accepted my story of being shaken up by that whole saga at the Quidditch World Cup. I kept them safe while those idiots were attacking, though they thought I was hiding with them," Hermione said. "I said we'd meet them at Kings Cross on September 1st, as usual. Poor Arthur's run ragged at the Ministry, trying to do damage control after that mess. You made a pretty big impact as Nemo, Harry."

"So I heard," Harry said. "And lemme guess, the Ministry wants my head on a platter?"

"Well, Fudge and his cronies do. I overheard that his Senior Undersecretary, this most frightful woman called Umbridge, was demanding that Amelia Bones drop everything and track you down and give you the Kiss. Of course, Bones has her own hands full, not least because of the so-called plague sweeping Azkaban."

"Well, the plague claimed another victim earlier," Shalltear said with a smile. "A shame you weren't here to see Harry give Bellatrix Lestrange the last hug she would ever need."

"I got the idea from that crazy ghost hanging around the treasure room, the one who inhabits that staff-dagger thing from Egypt," Harry said. "What was his name? Melvin(2)?"

* * *

"Come on, free hugs!" the spectre of the young man with white-blonde hair sticking up wildly, tanned skin riddled with bulging veins, and violet eyes wild with insanity, called out. "I promise I won't use a chainsaw this time! C'mon, just this once!"

The form of Pandora's Actor, who was dressed in a generic military uniform, sighed quietly. The Doppelganger was going to be driven mad if that damned ghost kept it up any longer.

"Aw, why are you guys being so shy? I'm willing to give you group hugs! Just hope you don't mind a mess…I mean, I hope you don't mind being part of a group! RA-DAMMIT, GIVE ME A HUG!"

* * *

"Anyway, I had this weird notion," Harry said. "Dumbledore made up some bullshit that it was love that was the greatest power against Voldemort, and while we were training, I was thinking, well, what am I gonna do, hug the bastard to death? Well, as I've just proven with Bellatrix, not only is it possible, but it's extremely satisfying. It's like popping a pimple, only considerably more messy, but worth it."

"Gross metaphor, but I see your point," Hermione said. "But what are you going to do with her body?"

"Well, I think Solution and Entoma wanted to share eating the body. Her head, though, along with those of her husband and brother-in-law…"

* * *

The next day, Augusta Longbottom recoiled when she first opened the package. Her first instinct was to scream in outrage and horror. But when she realised whose heads were in the large parcel, her outrage and horror sublimated first to bemusement, and then, to a macabre elation. The Lestranges…someone had ensured justice had been done.

With a smile on her face, she decided to call down Neville. Even though Azkaban was supposedly inescapable, it had always been a secret fear of the pair of them that Bellatrix, her husband and her brother-in-law would escape and try to finish what they started. This fear had only been magnified with the escape of Sirius Black. But it seemed that rumours of a plague sweeping Azkaban may not have been so true after all…not that she intended to tell Amelia Bones that.

Neville, when he finally came down, shared the same reactions she did. And he too looked at the letter that had accompanied the parcel, and he felt gratitude to whoever did this.

 _To the Longbottoms,_

 _While there's no occasion I can think of, except maybe a belated birthday for Neville, I thought you would both enjoy these admittedly macabre tokens of my goodwill. If it makes you feel any better, their deaths were drawn-out, especially Bellatrix's._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Nemo_

 **CHAPTER 7 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Well, that just happened.**

 **Fans of** ** _Overlord_** **will doubtless note that I based Bellatrix's death on that of Clementine from the events of the second novel (or episode 9 of the anime). The** ** _Danse Macabre_** **comments by Harry were even inspired by a quote from the novel (in the anime, Momonga calls it a dance of death, or just a dance). The bit where the Lestrange's heads were delivered to the Longbottoms, well, I didn't realise this until towards the end of writing this chapter, but it was pretty much the same as what happened in** ** _The Purge_** **by redbayly (which is not for the weak of heart or stomach, but is an interesting story of Harry learning that he is descended from Matthew Hopkins, inspiring him to become a witch-hunter of sorts like his ancestor).**

 **Next chapter, back to Hogwarts!**

 **1\. This is one of Momonga's first lines in** ** _Overlord Abridged_** **. He stole someone else's loot, and when confronted by one of the more whiny players, who would do anything he wanted for the gear back, Momonga merely said, "Sorry,** ** _I don't make deals with bitches_** **."**

 **2\. For those of you who don't get the joke, Melvin is the name given to Dark Marik in** ** _Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series_** **, and is obsessed with giving people lethal hugs…though chainsaws are usually involved.**


	9. Chapter 8: Back to School

**CHAPTER 8:**

 **BACK TO SCHOOL**

"But where have you **_been_** , Harry?"

Ugh, that had to be at least the tenth time Ron had asked the damned question. And as before, he answered, "With Padfoot. In hiding."

"Mate, we were worried sick about you!" Ron protested. "You only sent one letter! Can't you tell me what's going on?"

"Look, Ron, Padfoot told me that the fewer people who know, the better," Harry explained as patiently as he could. "My relatives were murdered, and I only got away by the skin of my teeth! Anyway, Padfoot told me about an old mentor of his in the DMLE, Mad-Eye Moody or something."

"Yeah, I know him. Paranoid as anything, but he's got good reason to be."

"Exactly. And Harry's the Boy Who Lived," Hermione pointed out. "He's got plenty of enemies. I thought him paranoid too, but after the Quidditch World Cup, I'm not so sure."

"Yeah, I wonder who cast the Dark Mark," Ron said. "D'you reckon it was that Count Zaccone guy? He could have been a Death Eater in disguise."

Harry suppressed a snort of amusement. Ron, leaping head-first to conclusions. Hermione did so too at times, as did Harry himself, but goddamn…

"We don't know that, Ron, though I admit, it is a little suspicious," Hermione said, knowing full well who Count Zaccone really was.

"And what was worse was that Nemo guy. Okay, he killed those Death Eaters with those minions of his, which was pretty cool, I guess, but he was pretty brutal. Who's to say he's not a Dark Lord, looking to usurp Voldemort?"

 _Right for the wrong reasons, Ron_ , Harry thought.

Still, at least the experiment he devised regarding an Animagus form worked…though it took a lot out of him, and it took him until yesterday to recover enough to get out of bed, even with Mare's help. But it meant that he had something of a trump card. A dangerous one to be sure, but worth it.

Thanks to the Goblins, the item that Bellatrix had been entrusted with had been delivered to Mare, who not only confirmed that it was a Horcrux, but an item of no less significance than the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff, one of the four Relics associated with the Founders of Hogwarts. Harry had wielded the Sword of Gryffindor, and there was also a locket of Slytherin, and a diadem of Ravenclaw.

In any case, while they were heading to Hogwarts, other things were happening. Aura was heading to Hogwarts as well, or at least its grounds, the Forbidden Forest in particular. She was to report back on any creatures useful to Ainz Ooal Gown, as well as negotiate with Aragog and his Acromantulas to move to the Tomb of Nazarick. She was going to avoid the Centaurs: while neutral to humans, Centaurs and Ainz Ooal Gown hadn't had the best of relationships. Not actually enemies, but Aura couldn't expect a warm welcome. Luckily, she was stealthy enough that even a native of the Forbidden Forest wouldn't notice her unless she wanted them to. And once Harry and Hermione laid down the waystone in the Chamber of Secrets, Albedo and Shalltear would begin changing the Chamber into a storeroom and court in miniature.

He was still glad about the glamour showing him to still be about fifteen, and Hermione having the same thing, plus showing she was still human, instead of the Gorgon she really was. He didn't want to explain that away.

Of course, he wasn't looking forward to heading back to Hogwarts. He had learned everything he needed to learn about magic. He was a mage who had certainly surpassed almost every one of these sheep. The only reason he was going back was to avoid arousing too much suspicion from a certain old man, though Harry was sure that the old man would be surprised and annoyed when Harry's declaration of sitting his OWLs and NEWTs came in.

Harry and Hermione weren't the only denizens of Ainz Ooal Gown who were coming: elsewhere on the train was Narberal, though she was transferring to Hogwarts under the pseudonym 'Nabe Gemma'. She was staying with Luna for now, though Harry was going to claim later that he had met her in Diagon Alley while getting his supplies for the year. Sebas and Albedo had insisted on at least one member of the Pleiades coming with him to Hogwarts, and as Narberal was a powerful mage and a shapeshifter, she seemed like the best choice, though she had to work hard to hide her disdain of humans, a disdain that Harry was beginning to share, even if on a smaller scale.

After all, these sheep would not be grateful if, no, _when_ he defeated Voldemort, or at least their gratitude would have a half-life comparable to some of those elements they created in a lab. Especially if they realised he was Ainz Ooal Gown. They would turn on him as a new Voldemort or Grindlewald.

Well, Voldemort had the wrong idea, anyway. He ruled with fear and hatred, and while he attacked from the shadows, he never intended to remain that way. Once he had consolidated his grip on Magical Britain, he would turn his ambitions to the Muggles…and then the world. He may not succeed in his ambitions, but he would kill a lot of people in the process, and wouldn't give a damn as long as he kept his immortality.

Harry, however, intended to rule from the shadows completely. The wizards would not know that they had been conquered. The revolution would be subtle and quiet, so that they never even knew that the monsters they so despised not only lived amongst them, but ruled over them…

…Or if they did learn, it would only be when it was too late…

* * *

Sitting with Luna was what appeared to be a Japanese girl in her mid-teens, her features beautiful, but stern and harsh, framed by long black hair done up in a ponytail. In truth, she was closer to Harry's current biological age. While she was going by the name of Nabe Gemma, her real name was Narberal Gamma, a Doppelganger or shapeshifter. While technically she could shift her appearance quite considerably, in practise, she specialised more in magical and actual combat, so she preferred to keep to two forms: her Doppelganger appearance, and her current appearance, although she preferred to look older.

While the denizens of the Tomb of Nazarick were considerably misanthropic, she was more than most. It was all she could do not to call them variants of the word insect or worm or similar things. Though Luna was at least an exception: Narberal actually grew to like the dotty human. And Harry was another: he had earned the approval of the denizens of Nazarick. And to tell the truth, as of a day or so ago, he wasn't entirely human either. Not anymore.

"…And you allow these ants to steal your possessions?"

Luna shrugged. "Professor Flitwick is a good man, but he's also a busy one. In any case, 'allowing' suggests that I am at all content to let it continue without any retaliation. Who said there wasn't?"

Narberal blinked when she realised Luna had a slight, but utterly malevolent smirk, on her face. "Oh?"

"My big sisters taught me well, and so too did the antics of the Weasley Twins. They go for showy and flashy retaliation. Me, well…my belongings are laced with a Mara Curse."

The usually-stoic Narberal's eyes widened, before a smirk touched her face. "A nightmare-inducing curse…one which will grow in strength the longer they do not feel repentance…I retract any remarks I made at your expense, Luna. You are most definitely a worthy member of our cause. I'm truly beginning to understand why Sebas tells me why humans are capable of surprising me, thanks to yourself and our lord."

"You do know he would prefer you to call him Harry, right?"

"…Right. But…it's somewhat ingrained," Narberal said. "I wish we could slaughter his enemies."

"That'd only cause more to spring up, like a Hydra's head. You know how easily Wrackspurts multiply during times of bloodshed," Luna said.

"I…believe so," Narberal said uncertainly, trying to discern the eccentric girl's import.

"Good! I hope I get to see Aura while she's on her missions in the Forbidden Forest," Luna remarked.

* * *

While waiting for her love and lover to get to Hogwarts and establish the needed waystone, Shalltear had not been idle. After discussion with Albedo and Sebas, she had received the go-ahead for a special information-gathering mission. And she had done so accompanied by her friend, one of the Pleiades, Solution Epsilon.

While Shalltear had been raised by Sebas, Solution was probably her best friend. Although she habitually took the form of a blonde, voluptuous girl, Solution was a Shoggoth. All of the Pleiades were trained from a young age, and indeed, this generation were either all orphans thanks to Voldemort or other wizards, or else they had been discarded by their families. Solution fell into the latter: Shoggoths were not the most empathic of monsters, and Solution had been discarded as a weakling, nearly eaten in the process of escaping. Of course, soon after graduating as one of the Pleiades, Solution had gone back to her family (well, her spawn –mother and her brood: Shoggoths tended to reproduce asexually, after all) and devoured them.

Of the Pleiades, Solution and Narberal had the most training in infiltration. Indeed, of the two, Solution was the better actor, and they had nearly considered sending her to Hogwarts with Harry, but as she lacked magic beyond that innate to her species and her training as a Pleiades maid, it was decided to send Narberal instead, who had training in the magic of humans. Solution was only mildly disappointed: she had been looking forward to eating some of those that opposed her lord.

Instead, they had used Solution as bait in a honeytrap. While it was unlikely that Harry would enter himself into the Tri-Wizard Tournament, his luck during his time at Hogwarts meant that Shalltear and Albedo wanted to be sure, and Sebas applauded their caution and desire for intelligence. Which was why Solution went into a bar known to be frequented by a certain person, and then had him take her home with him early this morning.

Shalltear turned up at said home later that morning. It was broad daylight, late in the morning, admittedly, but nobody would notice her, thanks to a little magic. She rapped on the door of the home, which was promptly answered by Solution. "Ah, Shalltear. I was beginning to get bored."

The vampire walked in, and looked around the décor, sniffing disdainfully. "I can see why. This fool clings vainly to a past glory. While it would be a pleasure to kill him, that will tip our hand too soon."

"I agree. It was tricky finding the right poison to send him to sleep without killing him, especially with the alcohol inside him. And I'm not sure I would enjoy eating him. I don't want to have that much fat in my diet," Solution said, her face twisting into a grotesque grimace of disgust. It should have been impossible for a human's face to twist that way, but Solution, as noted before, was far from human.

"Yeah, I know that feeling," Shalltear said, thinking back to Dudley and Vernon Dursley. Drinking them dry was satisfying, but still, the actual blood was too rich with fats, especially in Vernon. And knowing that at least part of their bulk had been enabled by Harry being forced to cook for them only made it worse. They had turned their prince into a fucking _slave_.

The décor was mostly Quidditch-related, particularly revolving around the Wimbourne Wasps. All yellow and black stripes, faded clippings from The Daily Prophet, a few trophies…and, Shalltear noticed, a number of bills, many of them from money-lending organisations, most of them with links to Gringotts. A faint smirk touched her lips as she followed solution into another part of the house, where they found a burly, tubby man with boyish features sprawled on a bed in a bedroom.

"Wake him, and then hold his head still," Shalltear said.

Solution did so, injecting the antidote to her sedative poison into the man, who began waking up with a groan. His eyes flickered open, only to meet Shalltear's own. His shout of fear died in his throat, as Shalltear's eyes began to glow.

"Ludo Bagman, I have some questions for you…"

* * *

It turned out to be a profitable session, Shalltear reflected as she and Solution made their way back to Nazarick. They had wiped the fool's memories after the hypnosis-enabled interrogation, modifying them so that he thought he had blacked out after drinking too much. In case anyone remembered Solution, they left a note from 'Sally', her human alias, berating him for falling asleep before they could get to have fun.

In any case, they found out more interesting things. Firstly, what the Tasks entailed. The First Task entailed retrieving a golden egg from beneath a nesting dragon, armed only with a wand. The Second Task required that the Champion retrieve a hostage from beneath the Black Lake. And the Third Task involved a hedge maze filled with obstacles and creatures.

Secondly, how the Champions would be chosen: the Goblet of Fire, a semi-intelligent magical artifact into which slips of paper with just the name of the participant would be placed into it. To prevent the younger students from participating, an Age Line would be installed by Dumbledore, and only one Champion from each of the three schools would be allowed. In order to bypass that, a powerful Confundus or something similar would need to be cast on the Goblet, which would generally need an adult, and a powerful adult wizard at that.

Thirdly, Bagman was in a lot of debt, thanks to compulsive gambling. Which meant he could have considerable leverage, especially as much of his debt was to the Goblins. And as the Goblins had a cordial relationship with the Tomb of Nazarick…well, it was something to hope for: they had few actual contacts within the Ministry, and even one in a useless, dead-end of a job could be potentially of use. Between giving him money and forcing him to sign a contract on his life and magic, they might have a useful spy.

Well, she would have to discuss this with Sebas and Albedo first. And Demiurge, of course. He was their spymaster, after all.

Still, she wished she didn't have to wait so long without Harry. Okay, once the bridgehead in the Chamber of Secrets was established, she could come and go at will, but still…she didn't like being separated from the love of her life…

 **CHAPTER 8 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Harry and Hermione are heading back to school, with Luna and Narberal in tow, and Shalltear and Solution have found some interesting info…**

 **Review-answering time!** **eternal king of fire** **: Not gonna happen, though the thought of Entoma getting cuddly with Ron IS amusing…**

 **Count Kulalu** **: Pandora's Actor hasn't appeared yet (beyond the cameo in the previous chapter) simply because I haven't read the whole of the third book (and watched the equivalent arc of the anime) yet. I'll try to have him appear.**

 **Guest** **(regarding other stories where** ** _Overlord_** **characters appear in the Potterverse): Yes, you're right, and I have amended the foreword slightly to reflect that.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	10. Chapter 9: Reactions

**CHAPTER 9:**

 **REACTIONS**

Dumbledore was a man who thrived on information. It helped him get to where he was today, in a position of power in Magical Britain. People tended to forget that it was not kings who had true power, but those who had connections. And not just the political connections that Malfoy and his ilk favoured, but carefully cultivated favours. Not to mention the fact that he was, if nothing else, a grandfather figure to much of Magical Britain.

Gellert and Tom understood so very little about true power. One did not keep true loyalty through fear, or at least fear of their leader. While useful, it was better to be loved than feared, despite what those fools misquoting Machiavelli thought. Machiavelli said a ruler should be both, but Dumbledore found it better only to be feared by one's absolute enemies…and even then, it was better to be underestimated. Hence his eccentric façade. And one's allies should adore him. Although for Dumbledore, the term ally was really someone he could use.

Dumbledore preferred to wield power from the shadows. And for that, he needed information. Which was why Harry's disappearance was concerning, as was the destruction of 4 Privet Drive. He doubted that it was truly a Death Eater attack. There were protective wards that would have alerted him had any Death Eater attacked, or indeed anyone with malicious intent against Harry or the Dursleys. But there was no warning, just a sudden collapse of the wards that had to have happened when the house was destroyed.

The wards were basic protective ones, but they also were based on Harry's magic. They drained it, and channelled it into special wards that prevented any Muggle from paying attention to Harry's plight, unless a life-threatening injury was involved. It also warped the Dursleys into shaping Harry through physical and emotional abuse into what Dumbledore needed: a weapon. If Harry survived this, then Dumbledore would shape him into becoming his protégé. If not, well, a martyr would do just as nicely.

Through Molly, who had related the letter to Ron, thinking little of the fact that she was betraying confidential correspondence when the greatest wizard since Merlin (well, not quite, but it didn't hurt to cultivate that reputation) asked, he learned that Harry claimed that he was staying with Sirius. And Dumbledore was sure that Sirius had left the country. Had he stayed, perhaps at 12 Grimmauld Place? Possible, but when he asked the portrait of Phineas to check, Sirius wasn't there. Understandable if he wanted to keep a low profile, but still, something about this bothered him.

Perhaps it was because he was almost certain that Ainz Ooal Gown was on the move again. He had managed to find the previous Ainz Ooal Gown, albeit after considerable difficulty: he was moonlighting as an Unspeakable, and Dumbledore managed to arrange a tragic accident during an investigation of the Veil. It would not do for Ainz Ooal Gown to have any real power in Magical Britain, not after they did what they did when he was trying to bring Gellert to justice. Or at least have him imprisoned, as an eternal reminder of who won.

And there was the matter of the mysterious Nemo. Dumbledore had already linked him to Count Zaccone, and was sure that Zaccone was a frequent alias of Ainz Ooal Gown's leader. Not that he could prove such a thing, of course. Even the fact that he opposed the Death Eaters was of little comfort if he was of Ainz Ooal Gown.

But who else had links to the organisation? Remus? No, he was too diffident and afraid of his own shadow. Harry? A possibility, but he doubted either James or Lily had blood ties to that line, especially as he had systematically eliminated those of the line he could find, usually using Snape to feed information to Voldemort. Sirius? The enmity between the Black family and Ainz Ooal Gown was well-known to those who knew of the latter's existence, but given that he was an exile from his family, it was a possibility, stronger than Harry. One of them may even have been Zaccone, albeit in disguise. There were other possibilities, but they were either dismissed or shelved.

Maybe Sirius had a contact with Ainz Ooal Gown. Maybe he cultivated it during his time in Azkaban, with a fellow inmate who was linked to the organisation. He knew Rookwood was an Unspeakable, and perhaps he had been Ainz Ooal Gown's inside man in the Death Eaters at the time of the previous war. And the recent plague affecting Azkaban inmates was concerning. It wasn't unheard of for inmates to fall prey to sudden outbreaks of illness, but something about the timing, on top of everything else, made him feel uneasy.

Even more so was Harry's demeanour when he came back for the Welcoming Feast. He seemed more calm and confident, even mature than he should be. And Dumbledore noted, with the lightest of probes, that he had Occlumency barriers. Well, that was irritating. Still, he still seemed to be close to the Granger girl and Ronald, which was good.

Inviting Harry to his office for a talk didn't help either. The boy merely said he was staying with Sirius in hiding, and mentioned Moody, whom Dumbledore had brought in. Dumbledore didn't like it, but he didn't press beyond a few questions, and a bit of a guilt trip about not going with the Weasleys to the Quidditch World Cup. He should have seen Harry's rebuttal, about the rioting Death Eaters, coming a mile off.

Still, all was not lost. The time was soon coming to put the boy through his paces. Dumbledore would see to it that Harry would be entered into the Tri-Wizard Tournament. It would serve to isolate him from the others. It would be a tricky balancing act, getting the self-sacrificing attitude needed without making him suicidal or homicidal, but Dumbledore was sure he could manage it.

Though he had to wonder why the Sorting Hat was chuckling softly. He might have been more alarmed if he heard what the Hat was murmuring. " _Doomed…you're doomed_ …"

* * *

Barty Crouch Junior was intrigued. One thing about Moody's artificial eye was that it could see through all kinds of enchantments. And he could see that the Potter brat, along with that Granger Mudblood that Pettigrew had spoken of, were older than they were meant to be. And Granger was a bloody _Gorgon_. What's more, he saw that that another student was a Doppelganger, Nabe Gemma or something. She had been Sorted into Gryffindor after an apparent argument with the Sorting Hat, and had promptly sat down next to Harry, sandwiching him between herself and Granger.

Which made him wonder, how much of a problem would this be? Notifying Dumbledore would disrupt his master's plans for the boy. Should he notify his master, then? He decided he would send a discreet missive. He doubted it would affect the plan in any case.

Still, his master was concerned. Those left in Azkaban, those still loyal to his cause, had perished. So too had a number of traitors at the World Cup. Crouch didn't care for their lives, but the Dark Lord had hoped to scare them back into working for him. Nemo had caused them quite a bit of trouble.

Well, that could wait until later…

* * *

The forms of Albedo, Shalltear, and Sebas, along with most of the Pleiades, appeared out of the air in front of Harry, Hermione, and Narberal. Albedo wrinkled her nose in disgust. "What a foul place this is. While it may be suited for a dungeon, it is not a suitable place to hold a second court."

"Still, the waystone works," Sebas commented, looking at the gently-glowing carved stone in the corner. "Shizu, any indication that Hogwarts' wards have detected us?"

"No. While most of them do not reach this far down, those that have have been disabled," the robotic maid intoned.

"My handiwork," Hermione remarked.

Harry looked over at the Pleiades. Two were missing: Lupusregina and Entoma. When he asked where they were, Sebas said, apologetically, "Lupusregina is checking leads in the werewolf community. Given the possibility of Voldemort's ascendancy, she is looking to see if she can find and destroy those who allied with him, with priority given to Fenrir Greyback. Entoma, meanwhile, is purchasing supplies from Knockturn Alley."

"I see." Harry folded his arms. "Sebas, do you think this has the potential to be a bridgehead?"

"Aesthetics aside, I do, and those can be dealt with. I believe the first thing that can be done is to start rendering that Basilisk carcass," Sebas said. "Basilisk parts are useful, and while we could sell them to the Goblins discreetly, I think it better to store them in Nazarick. Our Basilisks are smaller and younger than this one, and I believe Aura wanted to take the skull to create a trophy for you."

"Any word from her?"

"She's reached the Forbidden Forest and is planting a waystone in a location the Centaurs will not find," Sebas said. "No other news from her. That being said, Shalltear and Solution have news to report. They intended to save it until you established the waystone…"

* * *

Harry contemplated what they told him about Bagman and what they got out of him. "Looks like the Lovegoods' intel was correct for the First Task. As for dealing with him as a possible spy by buying out his debts, how should we do it?"

"We discussed the matter with Demiurge, and we decided that Bagman may not be that useful as a spy, unless we use a cutout to exchange information," Shalltear said. "If he even has a hint that he is working for Ainz Ooal Gown, he might betray us if a better offer comes along. In fact, he suggested, given how low-ranking Bagman is, that it may not be worth the hassle making him into our spy."

Harry nodded. As much as Demiurge got on his nerves, the unctuous demon was generally right. He looked over to Sebas to be sure, and the butler nodded. "Right. Bagman's not a useful spy. Any other candidates, then?"

"We're still working on that, my lord. Many in the Ministry are leery of working with creatures, even when money is involved. This is not just due to prevailing attitudes: one of the most influential women in the Ministry is Dolores Umbridge, the Senior Undersecretary."

"You mentioned her, Hermione, wanting Madam Bones to start hunting me, or rather, Nemo," Harry said. "You know much about her?"

"Only that Mr Weasley hates her, and that she has the ear of the Minister."

"Yes," Sebas said. "Umbridge is a fervent Blood Purist with anti-creature views. Mr Lupin has run afoul of her, albeit by proxy, due to the anti-werewolf legislation she pushed through. While no Death Eater to my knowledge, she would be something of a…groupie?"

"Sounds like a pleasant woman," Harry remarked sarcastically. "Anyone we can approach?"

"Perhaps the Unspeakables. The last Ainz Ooal Gown before you was one of them. But we can't rule out the possibility that his death was an assassination, so we may not be able to risk re-establishing our old contacts there. That being said, I do have a suggestion, one that I discussed with Demiurge. We give the Minister, along with key heads, 'gifts' from Count Zaccone. Nothing monetary, just things like statues, portraits, books, and the like, with surveillance spells. We used to have something similar in the Ministry before, but most of them were destroyed in the purges after Voldemort was vanquished. Others simply went inactive. We decided not to place any more until later, lest we draw more attention to ourselves. That being said, we could insert a spy into the Ministry. You have met Pandora's Actor before, haven't you, Harry?"

"Yeah, the hammy Doppelganger in charge of the Nazarick Treasury," Harry said. "Dressed in that military uniform."

"He's going through a phase," Narberal muttered. On Harry's look, she clarified, "He's a cousin of mine. And a fool. Pandora's Actor is his stage name, and the only name he answers to now. He's been itching to do more work for Nazarick. He has spied for us, and successfully, despite his buffoonery."

"Indeed, though mostly in mundane human society," Sebas said. "But he does have experience in magical society too."

"I'll consider them, those ways of spying on the Ministry, I mean," Harry said. "I don't want us to show too much of our hand. I probably did so too much already at the Quidditch World Cup."

"It was still an exciting demonstration of power, Harry," Shalltear said, grinning.

"Maybe. But for the moment, we're flying under the radar, and I hope to stay that way. We want these fools to not even realise they have new rulers. Right, let's get started. We have a long night ahead of us…"

 **CHAPTER 9 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, Dumbledore and Barty have been musing, and Ainz Ooal Gown are establishing a bridgehead in Hogwarts. What next? Well, there'll be a timeskip to the arrival of the schools…and incidentally, that chapter may be a while yet coming. I've run out of momentum of this one for the moment. But hey, 9 chapters is pretty good for a first run, right?**

 **Review-answering time!** **darn2k** **: I already said, the House Elves won't be freed from their transformation: it happened too long ago.**

 **storyreader21** **: I haven't thought about Hermione's Animagus form…but now that you've put the thought into my head, the answer is a SCARY one.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	11. Chapter 10: The Goblet of Fire

**CHAPTER 10:**

 **THE GOBLET OF FIRE**

 _October 30_ …

Well, the past couple of months were pretty boring, really. The major highlight was seeing the look on Dumbledore's face when Harry and Hermione's requests to sit the OWLs early came in, though dealing with the aftermath was irritating. Especially when he had to deal with the sneers of Snape, who, as usual, claimed he was being an attention-seeking brat.

For some reason, Hermione felt a little uneasy around Moody, an unease he shared. Something indefinable, beyond the lessons on the Unforgivable Curses he gave, and that ranting paranoia. It certainly fit in well with what Sirius and Remus told him about Moody, but he trusted Hermione's instincts. That, and poor Neville's discomfort at being shown the Cruciatus, even though Moody was sure to have known how Neville's parents were tortured into insanity. And he had seemed a little more confident and happy now, presumably due to Harry's little gifts.

A minor but noticeable distance was growing between them and Ron, too. Harry decided that, on Ron's side at least, it was partly due to Harry not keeping him in the loop, as well as his increased closeness to Hermione, as well as his closeness to 'Nabe', whom Harry claimed to have met while in hiding with Sirius, though Harry managed to mollify both Ron and Dumbledore by claiming that Sirius actually found her and hired her as a bodyguard, claiming her to be a Metamorphmagus. Well, mollified in that they knew why she was here. Dumbledore still pried for information.

Harry realised that part of the reason for his distance from Ron, at least on Harry's side, was…well, his increasing misanthropy. Ron wasn't actually **_bad_** , Harry knew, but he was lazy, wanted to bathe in Harry's reflected glory, and had been holding Harry back academically, even if only on an unconscious level. He was loyal, yes, but he also had an envious streak towards Harry's fame and fortune, in spite of how Harry got it, through his parents' demise. And Harry realised he had allowed Ron's views, as well as those of Hagrid's, to colour his initial impressions of Magical Britain and Hogwarts.

Harry didn't hate the redhead. He couldn't even feel apathy. It was more like a gentle sorrow, because he knew that his friendship with Ron was over. The only thing was that the actual breaking of the friendship hadn't happened yet. He knew Ron would never accept his friend as being Ainz Ooal Gown. That he managed to accept Harry's Parselmouth abilities two years ago was a miracle. He knew that Ron would, in a choice between loyalty and being seen as Light, would choose the latter.

But Harry was committed to helping out the inhabitants of the Tomb of Nazarick and their associates. If it meant that he had the entirety of humanity as his enemy, then so be it. Humanity had never really done much for him, save for patting his back one moment, and then sticking a knife in it the next.

Pandora's Actor had already managed to infiltrate the Ministry…as a speechwriter and speech coach for Fudge, of all things. Apparently the hammy Doppelganger had impressed Fudge and Umbridge with his speeches. In fact, Fudge and Umbridge hadn't even noticed the bugs Pandora's Actor had left around their offices…bugs that Demiurge was gleefully exploiting to get as much intelligence as possible…not that there was much intelligence within the skull of Cornelius Fudge.

Now, just before Halloween, they were waiting outside for the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to arrive. It was fucking cold, and Harry was glad that Hermione used warming charms on herself, even with the heavy robes: while not actually cold-blooded, she was affected by the cold more than a human would be. Narberal wasn't affected by the cold, though.

Aura, under concealment, was watching too, if only out of curiosity, as was Albedo and Shalltear, who had set up shop in the Chamber of Secrets (having now transformed it into a secondary dorm). Harry, during his training in the Time Chamber, had asked whether the condition of the House Elves could be reversed. Sadly, this wasn't the case: as the change had been performed centuries ago, the Dark Elves and House Elves were effectively different species, and trying to change them back would kill them. Apparently more than one of his predecessors had tried. Many House Elves were not loyal to Ainz Ooal Gown, if only because the wizards had warped their ancestors' minds against the organisation and its head.

However, it didn't mean he couldn't bring any under his aegis. He hadn't thought of it sooner, but had bound Dobby to him during the time spent here, and soon got Winky bound too. In order to further camouflage the whole thing, Hermione faked being on a crusade to free the House Elves. It was proving an excellent smokescreen for their activities. Dobby was grateful to work for Harry, and Winky, distraught at being dismissed by her previous owner (said owner being that dried-up old stick Barty Crouch Senior), willingly threw in her lot with Ainz Ooal Gown.

 _So, how do you think they're going to make their entrances?_ Harry asked through the ring links.

Narberal sniffed. _They wouldn't hold a candle to any you would make, should you put your mind to it, my lord. That being said, Beauxbatons does allow people of creature heritage to attend, usually part-Veela_.

Harry nodded mentally. He had been briefed by Sebas and Demiurge. Ainz Ooal Gown's history with Beauxbatons was complicated. After all, they were a little more tolerant of creatures and monsters than most such institutions. But shortly after the previous Ainz Ooal Gown's death, Madame Maxime, not wanting her school tainted by association with Ainz Ooal Gown, expelled any students with a known association to the organisation. Not that there were many, but it was enough to ensure considerable bad blood between the Tomb of Nazarick and Beauxbatons, especially as some were relying on the protection of Beauxbatons. At least two former students of the French magic school were murdered thanks to Maxime washing her hands of them.

While Harry could maybe understand Maxime's reasons to a degree (she wanted to protect her school from being associated with dark elements, even as she wanted to keep it a refuge for those with creature heritage), he also thought it disingenuous of her, even immensely hypocritical, as she was apparently half-Giant, and Giants tended to be worse monsters than even many of those in Nazarick. She may not have killed them, but in her attempts to wash her hands of them, she had allowed them to be targeted. He hoped she suffered from guilt, because if she didn't…

Durmstrang, for a school with such an emphasis on teaching the Dark Arts, had even worse relations with Ainz Ooal Gown. Attitudes of Blood Purity were allowed to run rampant, partly thanks to their headmaster, former Death Eater Karkaroff. It was probably only had as good a reputation as it did nowadays because Viktor Krum, the Seeker of the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team, attended the school.

Three schools, united here supposedly in the spirit of 'international cooperation'. But competitions weren't about cooperation, at least not between enemies. No, they wanted to **_win_**. They wanted to show that they were better than any other school. They wanted to boast about it, take their metaphorical dicks out of their trousers, wave them in people's faces, and claim that theirs was bigger.

The Beauxbatons delegation soon swooped in in a carriage drawn by winged horses. Showy, but somewhat interesting, Harry thought to himself. Though he had to restrain himself from glaring at Maxime when she strode from the carriage.

He also noted something. _Hermione, I sense a Veela or part-Veela's allure_ , Harry said.

 _Hardly surprising_ , Hermione said. _I can see her. She's got her scarf around her face at the moment._

 _She'd better not steal our lord from us_ , Albedo muttered venomously. The Succubus was possessive of Harry, and while she had no qualms about having an open relationship, it was with those she knew. Not that Harry could complain: aside from Hermione and Shalltear, that list of Albedo's approved co-lovers also included the Pleiades, and he had already established good relations with them.

Admittedly, he felt a bit uneasy around more than a few of them. While he was an admitted misanthrope, some of them were even more misanthropic than he was. Not to mention Solution and Entoma's habit of cannibalism, and Narberal and Lupusregina's disdain (usually open in Narberal's case, and hidden under a cheerful façade in Lupusregina's) for them. But they were completely and utterly loyal to him, and that was what mattered.

Soon, the Durmstrang delegation arrived, the admittedly awesome emergence of the massive ship from the depths of the lake ruined by the very toilet-like sound it made. Harry ignored Ron's excited hiss about Krum as the Quidditch star appeared, following that oleaginous fuck Karkaroff. Karkaroff obviously bought Krum here to be a ringer for a Champion for the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and to bathe in the reflected glory.

Well, let Karkaroff have his petty little moment in the sun. Harry intended to deal with any Death Eaters that crossed his path. And that included Snape. They would either bend the knee to him, or they would die. Though he reckoned the latter would be more likely…

* * *

The next 24 hours were…moderately interesting. The feast before the reveal of the Goblet of Fire had been interesting, though Ron spent too much time staring in awe at Viktor Krum…and then in infatuation with the part-Veela Harry and Hermione had sensed, who had wanted their bouillabaisse. When Karkaroff recognised Harry, it seemed almost like he was about to attack him…which would have been a big mistake. Thankfully, Moody intervened. Harry had to admit, for all the grizzled Auror's paranoia and his seeming apathy to Neville's reaction to the Cruciatus being demonstrated, Moody did have at least one thing going for him. Namely, turning Malfoy into a ferret and using him as a bouncy ball.

Then, the next morning, Fred and George tried bypassing the Age Line so that they could enter. The resulting backlash, giving them long white beards, provoked even the stoic and disdainful Narberal to laugh. Still, Harry had to consider whether he should risk bringing Fred and George into his confidence. After all, they may not be willing to work for a burgeoning Dark Lord, even one as relatively benign as Harry…then again, given their iconoclastic ways, maybe they would.

The day, of Halloween, passed by fairly well. Harry was almost tempted to hope that nothing bad would happen this day, unlike every other Halloween he had spent at Hogwarts…or the one he had lost his parents on. But he knew that'd be daring the universe.

As he sat during the feast, where the Champions would be revealed, he wondered whether he should let the Hogwarts Champion know what was coming, thanks to his foreknowledge of what was coming. He looked at that fatuous fool Bagman, and that stuck-up old bastard Crouch, and sneered mentally. Bagman was a fool who was pleasant usually, but he reminded him too much of Pettigrew for his liking: too skittish and selfish and cowardly. And Crouch was a self-righteous twat who had locked away his godfather without a damned trial…and probably would have turned Magical Britain into a bloody police state if he had his way. Okay, that was a bit of a hypocritical thought, considering that Harry intended to rule Magical Britain from the shadows, but still, Crouch's self-righteous nature was aggravating.

After the feast, the Goblet was all set to reveal who the Champions were. A hush settled over the hall. The first name the Goblet spit out was Viktor Krum's, who had become Champion for Durmstrang. Then came that part-Veela girl from Beauxbatons, whose name turned out to be Fleur Delacour.

And then, finally, the Hogwarts Champion was chosen. It turned out to be Cedric Diggory, a handsome Hufflepuff Harry had competed against at Quidditch before. Harry, inwardly, wished the Hufflepuff luck.

And then, after the Champions had retired to an antechamber, Harry seemed set to relax…when the Goblet flared up again. A new piece of parchment had flown out of it, and fluttered into Dumbledore's waiting hand. And Harry was struck with a sense of dread. He couldn't go one Halloween at Hogwarts without something bad happening, could he? And when Dumbledore read out the name on the parchment, Harry knew that things were going to go south for someone pretty soon.

"Harry Potter."

 **CHAPTER 10 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Well, that happened. I'm going to skip to the aftermath of what happened in the next chapter, and Harry spiralling ever further into darkness when the school, and Ron, turn on him.**

 **Incidentally, as of this chapter, this is the third-ranked Harry Potter/** ** _Overlord_** **crossover in terms of favourites, and just shy of the Top 10 of Overlord crossovers in general in terms of favourites. Hopefully, I can get even better.**

 **Review-answering time!** **woodzdrox** **: As you saw above, I did a little nod to your review, but Hermione hasn't smelled any Polyjuice on Moody, or at least nothing she identifies as Polyjuice. She just smells something off about him. Of course, now that Harry has been entered into the TWT…**

 **storyreader21** **: Using Hermione as part of the Voldemort resurrection scene is not happening. And she isn't in the TWT either.**

 **Infernus est in Animo** **: Nope.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	12. Chapter 11: Aftermath

**CHAPTER 11:**

 **AFTERMATH**

If there was one good thing about being the ruler of an entire complex filled with monsters (and frankly, this was one perk amongst many), there were many ways of working off frustration. Harry wasn't in the mood for sex with any of his lovers, so, the next day (a Sunday, thankfully), he and Hermione used their rings, as did Narberal and Aura, to transport back to the Tomb of Nazarick, whereupon Harry had Aura summon up some non-sentient monsters for him to kill, mostly elementals. As he did so, he found the lucid parts of his mind working overtime.

Despite Harry's protests, Crouch claimed that an unbreakable magical contract was in place. And Harry knew, despite his protests, that few in Gryffindor, never mind the rest of the school, believed that he didn't put his name into the Goblet of Fire. Most of Gryffindor was ecstatic, but Ron had thrown a minor but telling hissy fit. And Harry knew that the time had come to break off his friendship with Ron. If Ron, his supposed best friend, wasn't going to believe him out of something like petty jealousy, even when Harry offered to take Veritaserum, then it was clear that Harry didn't want Ron as a friend.

Even as he and Hermione, along with Narberal (Aura going via the Waystone she had in the Forbidden Forest) headed back to the Chamber of Secrets, Harry saw the sneers of anger and contempt on many in the school, especially the Hufflepuffs. He could understand it: he had stolen their fire. But when he protested he hadn't done it, well, they didn't believe him. And why should they? Justin Finch-Fletchley, a Hufflepuff, had proved instrumental in tarnishing Harry's reputation when he turned out to be a Parselmouth back in his second year. Why would they believe him now?

True, they were teenagers…children…but as Harry knew, adult humans weren't much better. Look at how Snape held onto a grudge well into his thirties, against the child of the man he had one against originally. Or Petunia Dursley, taking out her jealousy at not having magic on her nephew, condoning and even willingly participating in Vernon's abuse of Harry.

And Dumbledore could have tried more to get him out. But no, Dumbledore wanted to use him as bait to flush out the real culprit…and that was a generous explanation. Harry personally felt that the old fart was testing Harry, seeing how well-honed his weapon was, and trying to isolate him further. And McGonagall, despite being there, didn't do much to help him, because she was beholden to the old goat.

No. This was a sign. A sign that Harry needed to have so that he could break off ties with the wizards. And then prepare to rule over them from the shadows. But first, he needed to survive this thrice-damned Tournament. Oh, he had every confidence that he could, especially thanks to Shalltear and Solution's intel gathering from Bagman (who, incidentally, looked astonished and ecstatic that Harry was in), but even so, this was going to be a chore.

So, how to deal with a dragon? Crouch had stated that Harry, and the other Champions, needed to face the First Task with only their wands. What spells could he use? He had something of a repertoire, and frankly, he wasn't sure whether he should either complete the Task, or kill the dragon outright. And should he go all out, or should he conceal his full abilities? Decisions, decisions.

Well, whatever he did, he wanted to send a message to his enemies. _Don't fuck with me_.

With a final roar of fury, he annihilated the elemental he had been fighting. There was a smattering of applause from the seated audience, but he wasn't in the mood for it. Most of his underlings who were close to him knew that he wasn't in the mood for compliments and fawning.

"Are you feeling better, Harry?" Aura asked, having managed to shake off her habit of calling Harry 'my lord'.

"A little. I'm now just livid than homicidal," Harry snarked. Less angrily, he said, "Thank you, Aura for summoning those monsters. I feel better."

"I'm glad to be of service, Harry. What else do you wish of me?"

"Get your brother. I'm calling a meeting of the Floor Guardians and the Pleiades…"

* * *

In the throne room, where the Floor Guardians and the Pleiades assembled, along with Sirius and Remus, Harry stood at the foot of his throne, Albedo, Hermione and Shalltear by his side. "Given last night's events, we have to assume someone may have entered me into the Tri-Wizard Tournament. And while I shouldn't have to ask, has any one of you entered my name?"

The gathered Guardians all shook their head. Even the unctuous Demiurge looked angry, not at the accusation, but at Harry being entered. "Right, so the million Galleon questions are who did it, and why?"

"My lord, if I may?" Demiurge said. "There are two possible reasons for them doing this, perhaps others. The first is that it is a kind of crude assassination by proxy. As safe as the Tournament is meant to be now, the First Task does pit you against a dragon, a creature even a fully-fledged wizard would be hard-pressed to combat. And if you refuse to participate, you forfeit your magic. The second may be an attempt to discern your skills by a party that may suspect you being our ruler. Of course, there may be other possibilities, but those are the ones that immediately come to mind. It also may be a crude attempt at another kind of assassination: namely character assassination. By having you enter the Tournament, they can claim that you have cheated your way into it, thus tarnishing your reputation."

"Moody stated that a powerful wizard was needed to cast a Confundus on the Goblet, and they'd need to be an adult to bypass the Age Line," Harry mused. "Moody…Hermione, you said there was something strange about him."

"Yes, I did. Something familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Not about him, but something on his person," Hermione said. "I could all but smell something on him."

" _I DON'T UNDERSTAND_ ," Cocytus boomed. " _IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING HIM AS A CULPRIT, WHY WOULD HE STATE THE VERY METHOD HE USED TO ENTER YOU INTO THIS TOURNAMENT?_ "

"A double bluff," Demiurge said. "Remember, Mad-Eye Moody is an infamous Auror, and both his investigative skills and paranoia are well-known. Stating what he did would not be out of character…assuming it is him. Remember, wizards can use Polyjuice Potion, and there are also the Metamorphmagi, shapeshifting wizards who are descendants of Doppelganger hybrids…"

"That's it!" Hermione snapped her fingers. "Polyjuice! That smell…very faint, but there! I didn't realise it, but I was smelling Polyjuice Potion! I didn't recognise it at first because the last time I smelled it was two years ago! Harry, Moody has a flask on him at all times. He's noted for his paranoia, drinking only from that hipflask, but…"

"He's drinking Polyjuice," Harry realised. "Son of a bitch! Are you sure?"

"I can't be absolutely certain, but it's our best lead. In the _Prophet_ , there was a report that Moody woke up his Muggle neighbours after a recent disturbance, shortly before coming to Hogwarts."

"It'd be a rare wizard who can get the drop on Mad-Eye," Sirius mused. Then, he snapped his fingers. "Got it! The Marauder's Map!"

"The Marauder's Map?" Harry asked.

"We should be able to tell who the impostor is, even while they're under the influence of Polyjuice," Sirius said.

Harry fished around in his robes, before fishing it out. Unfolding it, he tapped it with his wand, and murmured, " _I solemnly swear I am up to no good._ "

The map sprang to life, and Harry frowned when he peered at the DADA classroom. "It says Alastor Moody here…but he's with Barty Crouch. Wouldn't Crouch be at the Ministry? Just give me a moment, I need to contact Pandora's Actor." Which he could do, with the Ainz Ooal Gown ring.

After a moment, the hammy tones of Pandora's Actor echoed in his mind. _Ah, Lord Harry! What does my most illustrious leader require of me?_

 _Pandora's Actor, I need to know something. Are you in the Ministry of Magic right now?_

 _But of course I am, my lord! I was actually investigating the Department of International Magical Cooperation after hearing of your entry into the Tri-Wizard Tournament!_

Harry nodded, pleased that the hammy doppelganger had taken the initiative. _Good. I need to know, is Barty Crouch Senior there?_

 _Well, he appears to be, I just delivered files to him from that most dreadful Batrachian Bitch Dolores Umbridge mere seconds before you rang! Why do you ask?_

 _And he doesn't seem…odd?_

 _Well, he looks rather stressed, to be perfectly frank. Actually, my lord, he has looked this way for some time, rather distracted-looking. Most believe he is working himself down to the very bone, but given the frightful attitude he has to his underlings, it may be karma!_

 _All right, Pandora's Actor. Thanks_. Harry cut the connection off, and looked at the others. "Pandora's Actor says that Crouch is at the Ministry."

"But the Map says that he is at Hogwarts!" Sirius protested, before his eyes widened. He looked at Remus, who caught on, and walked over to Harry, taking the map from him, and beginning to poke it with his wand.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"The map is meant to pinpoint people, but I think I know what Padfoot gave me that look for. It doesn't give suffixes to names like senior or junior," Remus said. "I can fix that."

Albedo frowned. "And the point is…?"

"The Barty Crouch we've met is Barty Crouch Senior," Sirius explained. "He had a son, Barty Crouch _Junior_ , who died in Azkaban…or so we thought. If my hunch is right…"

Albedo's eyes widened. "You think it is Barty Crouch Junior who is present at Hogwarts?"

"We don't think," Remus said grimly, finishing with the map, and showing the name, now Barty Crouch Junior, on it. "We _know_."

Harry frowned. "Barty Crouch Junior…he was captured along with the Lestranges. He protested his innocence in being a Death Eater, but from Bellatrix's memories, he was, while a little reluctant, still a participant in torturing Neville Longbottom's parents. Still a fanatical Death Eater, though Bellatrix thought him a wannabe. But he supposedly died in prison, how did he get out?"

"We can figure that out later," Albedo said, her expression grim. "The question is what to do about him. Do we capture him and send him to Neuronist or Demiurge for interrogation? Do you do so yourself, Harry? Do we try to kill him, or sway his loyalty to us?"

"If I may?" Demiurge said. On Harry's nod, the demon said, "We cannot be sure that Barty is working on Voldemort's instructions. If he dies or disappears suddenly, Voldemort may realise someone is onto his plans. Therefore, I would suggest that sending either Shalltear to hypnotise him, or else using the Imperius may work. But as he tried to deny his connection with Voldemort during his trial, he may be working for Voldemort out of fear. The right words placed in his ear may bring his loyalty to you, and thus we will have a mole in the ranks of the Death Eaters. It's a risky proposition, obviously, but the rewards could be most potent. And if necessary, well, I have an idea on how to replace him without suspicion."

"Sending Shalltear may be a problem with that eye of his," Harry said. "He also had all those dark magic detection things, so sending one of us may be a problem. I could lure him to Shalltear on a pretext. Are there any antidotes to the Polyjuice Potion?"

"Too laborious," Hermione said. "Remember when I became part-cat in our second year? I was lucky Pomfrey didn't find out I was a Gorgon. The procedures she used took a long time. Days. The best way to do it is just to wait them out."

"All right. We have a plan, then. We lure Barty Crouch somewhere on a pretext," Harry said, before suddenly snapping his fingers. "Oh, wait! I can get Dobby to fetch him here. Then, we can have him return Barty once we're done, hopefully with no-one the wiser. All right. Everyone, prepare for restraint protocols. Shalltear, Demiurge, ready your mind-control abilities." The unctuous demon had the ability to lace his voice with an aura that strongly suggested listeners heed what he said. "Albedo, Cocytus, Sebas, prepare to restrain him physically. Hermione, Sirius, Remus, Mare, get ready to use magic. Pleiades, Aura, on standby. We shouldn't need all of you to restrain and interrogate one wizard, but better to overprepare than not…"

* * *

Mere minutes later, Dobby popped in with Moody, whom the House Elf had already restrained. And it seemed that the faux-DADA teacher had needed to drink more of the potion before long, as within a few minutes, the grizzled features of Mad-Eye Moody melted away to reveal the sandy blonde hair framing the deranged, haggard features of a young man, prematurely aged by a stay in Azkaban.

As Barty woke up to find himself surrounded by a circle of monsters and wizards, Harry could tell, by the startled and surprised look on his face, that he hadn't been expecting this. Especially to see the nemesis of his lord and master holding an elaborate staff, and looking down at him with a look that screamed of authority…and of how fucked he was.

"Barty Crouch Junior…" Harry began. "It's about time we've had a little talk…"

 **CHAPTER 11 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Well, well, well. Barty has been exposed. But will he be a willing or unwilling pawn of Ainz Ooal Gown? Or will he suffer for his role in trying to deliver Harry to his master? Well, let's wait and see in the next chapter…**

 **Oh, and now, this fic is the top Harry Potter/** ** _Overlord_** **crossover! Well, in terms of favourites. It's still (barely) edged out by dEBB987's** ** _The Master of Death in Nazarick_** **(which I wholeheartedly recommend, anyway) in terms of follows as of posting this. It's also made the Top 10 in terms of favourites and alerts in** ** _Overlord_** **crossovers overall! Thanks for your support!**

 **Speaking of** ** _Overlord_** **, I have recently begun playing the game of the same name. I can see why people enjoy it: it's basically** ** _Pikmin_** **meets Discworld (and Rhianna Pratchett, the daughter of the late, great Terry Pratchett, wrote for the games), thus combining two of my favourite things. I may even do a crossover with the** ** _Overlord_** **video games one day, though whether it's with the Potterverse, or with some other franchise like** ** _Naruto_** **, I don't know.**

 **Now for some shameless plugging. This will probably be the last chapter for this story (and probably any story) I post until the upcoming Christmas update in mid-December. Aside from the next chapter of** ** _Yield to the Darkness_** **, my other** ** _Overlord_** **story,** ** _Xenagogy for Belligerent AIs and Dungeon Denizens_** **(a crossover with** ** _Red vs Blue_** **with a post-Season 6 Alpha Church taking the place of Momonga) will be updated.**

 **And as of writing, besides another sample chapter for** ** _The Cauldron_** **, there will be updates to a number of stories, including my Nasuverse stories** ** _Gorgon and Thanatos_** **and** ** _Light the Blue Touch Paper and Run Like Hell_** **, my** ** _Yu-Gi-Oh!_** **crossover** ** _Ignis Aurum Probat_** **, my new** ** _RWBY_** **crossover** ** _Neopolitan and the Goblet of Fire_** **, my** ** _Final Fantasy XII_** **crossover** ** _Ghost of Dalmasca_** **…and, at long last, the long-awaited eleventh chapter of my OTHER** ** _Final Fantasy XII_** **crossover** ** _Nitimur in Vetitum_** **. That's right folks, even after over a year without an update, it's still alive! And I'm also definitely posting the first three chapters of my** ** _Darkstalkers_** **crossover,** ** _Never Tear Us Apart_** **. Whether I get any new chapters ready before then for other fics…well, that's still up in the air, but watch my profile for details.**

 **Review-answering time!** **Guest** **(regarding defining Solution and Entoma as cannibals): True, but the popular conception is the anthropophagic meaning. To whit, to serve man…on a platter. Therefore, Solution and Entoma will still be classed as cannibals. Yes, it's technically incorrect, but most readers will know what I mean.**

 **DocSlendy** **: Yes. Ron's more unflattering traits will be brought to the fore here, insomuch as I can do so without bashing him outright (and by that, I mean turning him into the greedy envious bastard many writers do him as), but here, in this story, he's going to be an antagonist rather than a villain. Dumbledore is another matter. And while my analysis of his character was somewhat true, I did overlook some of his better qualities. But Ron as a character is boring to me. I don't like writing him, so he usually ends up in the background of many of my stories.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	13. Chapter 12: Counterplot

**CHAPTER 12:**

 **COUNTERPLOT**

"Potter…" Barty said, apparently managing to regain some confidence when he realised he wasn't dead. "Well, this is a surprise. I didn't think you'd see through me. Though I noticed the Gorgon masquerading as a Mudblood, and the Doppelganger."

Harry scowled, before backhanding Barty. "Hermione Granger would have been worth a thousand Purebloods if not more, even if she was still human, by dint of not being an inbred moron. Use that word again, and I'll remove a body part." Then, after a moment, he said, "Actually, no. I'll have Hermione do one little thing to you each time you say that word. Though we shouldn't need to. Shalltear?"

The True Vampire nodded, and then glared at Barty, her eyes glowing crimson. Barty struggled, trying to close his eyes, but eventually, they became dull and crimson. "You will answer any questions put to you truthfully and wholly," Shalltear commanded.

"Yes, ma'am," Barty said, a little dully.

"Did you enter me into the Tri-Wizard Tournament?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"The Dark Lord commanded it. He wanted you to be exhausted and at bay from Samhain to midsummer, as part of a ritual to grant him a new, strong body…"

* * *

The interrogation went on for quite some time. They learned that Barty had been broken out of Azkaban by his own father, though only because Barty's mother, who was dying, wanted it. They swapped places, using Polyjuice Potion to disguise the switch, and then, Barty was kept at his father's home, under the Imperius.

It was Barty they had sensed at the Quidditch World Cup, and the one who had stolen Ron's wand, and cast the Dark Mark. He had broken free of his father's control, temporarily. Then, Voldemort and Pettigrew found out about Barty's whereabouts. Bertha Jorkins' memory problems had all started when she had stumbled across Barty, and the senior Barty Crouch had Obliviated her quite heavily. Voldemort had undone that, and so Barty had willingly rejoined the master he had renounced at his trial.

Crouch, disguised as Moody (who was trapped in his own trunk as Polyjuice Potion supplies), was to help guide Harry through the Tasks discreetly, before sabotaging the trophy to act as a Portkey, taking Harry to Little Hangleton, where Voldemort and Pettigrew would be waiting, the former inhabiting a Homunculus body. Cocytus had to restrain Sirius from heading over there to catch Pettigrew.

After their interrogation was finished, Harry and the Guardians, along with Sirius and Remus, and his lovers, of course, convened, Shalltear leaving Barty in a hypnotised sleep for now. "What do we do?" Remus asked. "We can't annul the magical contract, and if we kill him, we risk exposing ourselves."

"How long can we keep him under control for?" Sirius asked.

"My mental domination will wear off after some time," Shalltear said. "I would have to make him a fledgling to make it stick, and even then, there's no guarantee."

"And the Imperius isn't wholly reliable," Sebas mused. "He's been exposed to it for long enough thanks to his father that applying it again is potentially risky."

"Hmm," Demiurge hummed. "We could still persuade him to ally with us, or I could torture him into submission. There are possible techniques I can use to bend him to our will, but they don't have guarantees of success, and time is of the essence. However, I believe I have an idea with considerable merit. We recall Pandora's Actor from the Ministry, and have him masquerade as Barty Crouch, or rather, as Alastor Moody."

Harry looked at the others. "…Will Pandora's Actor be missed from the Ministry?" he asked.

"He is acting as a Muggleborn gofer, so no," Demiurge remarked.

"Right. I want Pandora's Actor back here ASAP, and ready to view memories in a Pensieve of Hermione, Narberal and myself observing him as a teacher, as well as any memories Padfoot and Moony might have, so that he can mimic Moody without the hamminess. Shalltear, Demiurge, I want every last secret out of him. I don't trust using Legilimency on him."

"What about Voldemort and Pettigrew?" Remus asked.

Mare stepped forward. "Progress on creating the ritual for destroying Voldemort and his Horcruxes is slow going. If we can find more of them, the ritual can be made less complex, as part of the problem is locating and eradicating the Horcruxes by magical means," he said in a quiet, cringing tone of voice.

Albedo's lips pursed in annoyance, but a look from Harry had her stilling her tongue. "Right. We'll have to check other possible places," Harry said. "Sirius, any ideas?"

After a moment, Sirius said, "My brother, Regulus, was a Death Eater, and supposedly one of the most trusted. Malfoy got the Diary, and Bella got the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff. It's a long shot, a very long shot, but maybe there's something at my family's ancestral home at 12 Grimmauld Place."

"We need to see if there's any at Hogwarts, hidden somewhere. I'll ask Dobby if there's any place where a Horcrux may have been hidden, beyond the Chamber of Secrets," Harry noted.

"Even having two Horcruxes will speed things up," Mare said. "Three would be even better."

"Right," Harry said. "Mare, you go with Sirius and Remus to 12 Grimmauld Place. Now, has anyone recalled Pandora's Actor yet?"

"I have taken the liberty of doing so already, Harry," Albedo said. "He's heading to an Apparition point as we speak."

Then, with a pop, Pandora's Actor appeared, his appearance shifting from his human form into the default Doppelganger appearance: long spindly limbs and fingers, and a smooth, featureless face, like an egg, with only a trio of dark holes for eyes and a mouth. He was dressed, as was his wont to do, in military uniform. He clicked his heels together and saluted. "My lord, your most humble of servants has returned!" he proclaimed.

 _Humble my arse_ , Harry thought. Out loud, he said, "Has Albedo briefed you on your new mission yet?"

"Naught but the basics, Lord Harry! But I am eager, as always, to hear the commandments that will spill forth from your lips!" Pandora's Actor exclaimed, reaching a hand to the sky as if to milk the teats of a giant cow.

"Tone down your theatricality, cousin, it's embarrassing," Narberal snapped.

"But cousin, to perform is to live! _Ago ergo sum!_ I act, therefore I am!" he proclaimed.

"…Is that even proper Latin?" Hermione asked.

"Bah! That is the wrong question to ask, considering how badly wizards torture the poor, defenceless Latin language in order to create spells!"

"Enough, Pandora's Actor," Albedo said coldly. "You have a mission of considerable import, to emulate a man by the name of Alastor Moody, and take his place as teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. You are to also assume correspondence, when necessary, as the man here, Barty Crouch Junior. We will provide you with the necessary resources to imitate both successfully when needed. You are to emulate them without arousing any suspicion. Am I understood?"

Pandora's Actor saluted. "Completely and utterly, Lady Albedo! I will not let Ainz Ooal Gown down! I will give the performance of a lifetime!"

* * *

In the afternoon, Harry, Hermione, and Narberal, along with the newly-transformed Pandora's Actor, were sent to the DADA office, where Harry went to the trunk, and opened it. A comatose Moody was present in one of the compartments. Harry sighed quietly to himself. Moody was a good fighter, but in freeing him, he could risk exposing himself as Ainz Ooal Gown. Moody was a supporter of Dumbledore, and had a hatred of dark wizards. Harry couldn't let him live.

So, he used Grasp Heart, and killed him, hoping that the castle's wards wouldn't detect this as, he feared, the Killing Curse might. The infamously paranoid Auror convulsed and spasmed, before he coughed out one gout of blood, and then died, still asleep. "Right," Harry said grimly. "Dobby can take him to Nazarick to be disposed of, maybe fed to one of Aura's beasts."

The others nodded. While Harry had killed in more or less cold blood before, those had been Death Eaters, on the side of Voldemort. This was the first time he had killed someone allied to the Light, or at least that's how his old self would have defined it.

But that self had perished, or at least had started to, when Vernon beat him nearly to death. Harry may not kill unnecessarily, but he intended to do so when necessary. Moody could not have been allowed to live. Too many questions would have been raised by him staying alive and being rescued.

After Dobby took Moody's body away, he came back on Harry's command. "Dobby, I need to know if there's any possible secret places something important and dangerous may have been hidden."

Dobby nodded. "Theres bes the Come and Go Room…also the Room of Requirement."

"Good. I need instructions on how to get there." He wondered how Sirius, Remus, and Mare were getting on…

* * *

"FILTH! HALF-BREEDS! DEFILERS OF THE HOUSE OF BLACK!"

As Mare cringed, Sirius grimaced. "I've forgotten how much I enjoy your dulcet tones, mother."

"DON'T YOU TALK BACK TO ME, YOU INGRATE! LETTING WEREWOLF SCUM AND EFFEMINATE FERAL ELF WEAKLINGS INTO MY HOUSE!"

"Don't you dare talk to my friends like that!" Sirius snapped. "Mare? How good are you at redecorating?"

Mare looked up at Sirius. "I'm sorry?"

"That painting there. I came back here once before, and found the old hag had stuck it to the wall using magic that can't be undone. Well?"

Mare looked at the shrieking portrait, chewing pensively on his lip, before he asked, "Are you attached to that wall?"

"No. It's not load-bearing as far as I know. Why?"

"YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING, YOU CROSSDRESSING FERAL ELF! YOU NEED TO BE DOMESTICATED TO SERVE LIKE THE LOWLY FILTH THAT YOU ARE!"

Suddenly, Mare leapt into the air, and smashed the painting off the wall with a swipe of his staff, taking with it a good chunk of the wall, and sending the portrait crashing to the floor. People forgot that, as wimpy as Mare was, and as much as he specialised in the magic arts, Dark Elves were also physically strong, and due to his sister's rather sadistic idea of training, Mare had a strength that his slender, androgynous frame belied. His sister once bragged that Mare could brain a troll with a single blow from his staff, one of the few explicit compliments Aura had given her brother.

Mare stalked over to the painting, something undefinable in his face. It couldn't be said to be anger or rage. It was more like fear sublimating into aggression, his face showing a sort of blank apathy that clashed with his mismatched eyes. And the attack had muted Walburga's voice, so even as her lips moved, no sound came from the painting.

"I don't know how to deal with people, not always," Mare said quietly. "But Harry is my friend and my lord both, and those who demean us demean him." With that, Mare cast a spell that coated the painting in a magical acid, which dissolved the painting. "So join the rest of you in oblivion," the effeminate elf concluded.

"NOOO!" wailed a familiar voice to Sirius, and Kreacher barged by Mare to try and restore his mistress' painting, only for the painting to finish dissolving into coloured goop that, by now, looked merely like exotically-coloured diarrhoea. He then whirled on Mare. "You freak…" he hissed. He leapt at Mare, only for Mare to swat the deranged House Elf into the wall.

Specifically, the wall with the impaled House Elf heads on it. And Mare's blow had sent Kreacher onto the last one, the hook going right through his head. The gurgle of Kreacher was merely reflexive: he was dead already. Sirius had told Mare about Kreacher's cruelty, but even he was surprised by Mare killing him.

After a moment, Remus said, "I'm glad you're on our side, Mare."

"…You mean that you're on _our_ side," Mare corrected gently.

And Sirius and Remus both knew that he was correct. As gentle and meek as the Dark Elf was, he was also ridiculously strong for his slender, childish frame, and loyal to the head of Ainz Ooal Gown. It was only thanks to them being on good terms with Harry that they avoided potentially being an obstacle to Ainz Ooal Gown.

After a moment, Sirius just looked at Kreacher. The hook's enchantments were already dissolving his body, and preserving the head. "Good riddance," Sirius spat. "Can you find the Horcrux?"

Mare cast a spell, and then nodded. "There's a lot of dark magic, but there are darker areas than others. Let's go…"

* * *

"THAT EVIL OPHIDIAN **_BASTARD!_** "

Harry stared at Hermione. That had to be one of the strongest swear words he had heard her say, and the vehemence with which she said it was even more startling. Then again, when they had followed Dobby's instructions to find the Room of Requirement, and used the short range tracking spell Mare taught them to find the Horcrux, they were surprised to find that said Horcrux was embedded in…

"THE DIADEM OF ROWENA RAVENCLAW!" Hermione screamed. "HE MADE A BLOODY _HORCRUX_ OUT OF THE LOST DIADEM OF ROWENA RAVENCLAW!"

Narberal stepped forward to try and stop her, only for Harry to gently hold the Doppelganger back, shaking his head. While in Gryffindor, Hermione would probably look up to Rowena Ravenclaw more, or at least the ideals of her House. "She's in All-Caps Mode," Harry said quietly. "You do NOT get in the vicinity of someone in All-Caps Mode."

They let Hermione rant and rave like that for some time, before she finally calmed down enough to be merely angry rather than apoplectic. "Okay. I hope that Mare can do that ritual and avoid damaging this…treasure! It's like Voldemort painted 'KILROY WOZ ERE' on _The Last Supper!_ "

"You seem upset about this," Narberal observed with dry, wry understatement.

"Oh, I am absolutely livid. As if we needed another reason to kill him," Hermione scowled.

"Don't worry," Harry said soothingly to his friend and lover. "We'll make sure his death agonies are the stuff of legend. His screams will reach the heavens, before we send him down to Hell to join his followers. There is only enough room in this world for one dark lord, and a mad dog masquerading as a serpent isn't at all fit to be one…"

 **CHAPTER 12 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Ooh, them's fighting words. But can Harry back those words up? And will Pandora's Actor stuff up his mission?**

 **Incidentally, it seems that I was a bit premature when I said that this chapter would be kept aside for the next big update, as I managed to write a new one. Given that the next chapter covers the First Task, it seems more fitting to have that be put in for the next big update. Oh, and after writing a confrontation between Harry and Ron, I'm considering putting in some Ron-bashing for the first time in my fics. It may not come to that, but, well, fair warning.**

 **Now, some people might be wondering why I characterised Mare as I did in attacking the portrait and Kreacher. Well, if you refer to the third book,** ** _The Bloody Valkyrie_** **(or episode 11 of the anime adaptation,** ** _Confusion and Understanding_** **), he is capable of killing in cold blood (on Ainz's orders, technically), and he is stated in the novel to be both afraid, and yet apathetic. I thought that he was like a less insane version of Crona from** ** _Soul Eater_** **in some regards. He gets angry in a strangely apathetic or at least stoic way, and I would think that his loyalty to Harry, plus being demeaned would press his buttons. He had already been told of Kreacher's antics against Sirius, and as he likes Sirius, well, he kills Kreacher as a favour to Sirius, as well as in self-defence. They also deal with Phineas' portrait in short order.**

 **As for Harry killing Moody, I doubt that Moody would willingly join Harry, and freeing him might have raised too many questions with Dumbledore. So, Harry decided to cut the Gordian Knot and kill Moody (and, after he is interrogated, Barty Crouch Junior) and have Pandora's Actor take his place.**

 **No numbered annotations for this chapter.**


	14. Chapter 13: The First Task

**CHAPTER 13:**

 **THE FIRST TASK**

It had been a long wait to the First Task. True, it wasn't a boring wait, thought it was a tedious one. He had to endure the glorified photoshoot that was the Weighing of the Wands (and he barely managed to avoid Rita Skeeter dragging him into a supplies cupboard for an interview, if not worse), he and his guardians and lovers had to decide what he was going to do for the First Task, and he still had to deal with the aggravation of Malfoy and those puerile badges he created. It was telling that many of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws wore them, and not just for the message to support Cedric. It took considerable persuading to prevent Narberal and Pandora's Actor (who was doing a great job at imitating Moody/Crouch) from attacking the students for their insolence (their words, not Harry's).

After considering so many avenues as to fight the dragon he would doubtless be facing, Harry decided to take a gamble. Quietly, discreetly, he filed paperwork about his Animagus form at the Ministry, paying off the right people to ensure that nobody would be able to access it until he revealed it. Because during the First Task, he was going to reveal it.

Why? Well, while it meant exposing one of his strongest abilities, it was also going to send a clear message to Magical Britain. Or rather, it was going to reveal the full meaning behind the Hogwarts motto: _Draco dormiens nunquam titillandis_.

Aura had managed to infiltrate the enclosure where they kept the dragons. Harry had later been invited by Hagrid, who discreetly showed them to a hidden Harry, and Madam Maxime. Karkaroff had followed them. Harry had debated with himself whether to tell Cedric or not. On the one hand, Cedric had approached him and said that he had told his friends to not wear the badges. On the other, the Hufflepuffs, including their own Head of House, was treating him with contempt. Eventually, Harry's conscience won out, and he sent Cedric an anonymous message saying that the First Task involved facing dragons. He justified this to his followers as levelling the playing field…and showing his detractors how powerful he was even without an advantage.

Anyway, Aura proved to be a font of knowledge about dragons, which wasn't surprising. What was surprising was that she was good friends with Newt Scamander, once one of Dumbledore's protégés, before some bad blood came between them. Scamander was on good terms with Ainz Ooal Gown, and had been one of Aura's teachers. Indeed, Aura was, albeit anonymously, a co-author of all editions of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ since the 60s, and Newt gave Aura part of the royalties from the books. Between the two of them, Harry got more information than he would have from a mere text (as well as advice on duelling and unusual means of fighting: Scamander had faced Grindlewald and lived to tell the tale).

There were four dragons: a Welsh Green, a Swedish Short-Snout, a Chinese Fireball, and a Hungarian Horntail. Knowing his luck, he'd end up with the Horntail. He'd spent last night with Hermione, Albedo, and Shalltear, with Narberal joining in at their request. Not that he thought it'd be their last night together…but it didn't hurt to make sure that, if you had any last memories to go over, then better make sure they were worthy of Patronuses.

He found himself gratified that the other three Champions were nervous. Not that he wasn't, but he felt more confident than they looked. Bagman came in and offered them statuettes from a bag. They were supposed to draw which dragon they were supposed to fight from the bag. And surprise, surprise, Harry got the Horntail.

Bagman tried to talk to Harry outside, only for Harry to wave him away irritably. He studied the statuette, trying to think about what Aura and Scamander told him about Hungarian Horntails. Debatably the most dangerous dragon breed, spiky tails, can blast someone with fire from up to fifty feet away…ornery, vicious and aggressive.

He waited there as each Champion was summoned out. He couldn't help but grin viciously after the last one, Krum, finally left. Whatever these so-called Champions were going to pull out of their hats, it would be absolutely nothing compared to what Harry had in store. The crowd might be shitting their pants afterwards, but he was going to make this _spectacular_.

Then, all too soon, or maybe not soon enough, Harry was summoned out. He walked into the arena, and saw all those faces looking down at him. Some in concern, but too many in satisfaction.

He was surprised when he looked at Ron's face, and saw apprehension and concern in the redhead's face. Well, too little, too late. Ron had changed from being cold to being contemptuous and jealous, and Harry had had a blazing row with him that nearly ended with him using Grasp Heart when he saw Ron wearing one of those badges. Ron may be showing remorse now, but Harry didn't care. He knew their friendship had been on the verge of ending. Ron threw it away out of jealousy. Maybe the old Harry might have forgiven him…but the old Harry died bleeding out on the floor of his bedroom at the Dursleys. He may not want Ron dead or harmed, but he would never consider him trustworthy enough to be a friend again.

He looked at the crowds with contempt, though he schooled his expression. _Look at them. They're like the crowds at the Colosseum, hoping to see blood during a gladiatorial contest. No, they want to see me killed by the wild animal_. Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant. _Well, I ain't saluting, I ain't dying, and I am not backing down. I am Harry Potter, the latest Ainz Ooal Gown, Protector of the Tomb of Nazarick. And to my enemies, I'm your worst nightmare_.

With that, he looked towards the dragon. He had the feeling that it sensed what lay within him, for within its…no, her (it was a nesting mother, after all) aggression, there was also anxiety and fear. He fought to keep the vicious grin off his face, before he _changed_ …

* * *

It was impossible. Or rather, given that they saw the impossible being done right in front of them, it should have been impossible. And yet, it was happening.

Harry Potter's form was warping and distorting and growing. He got onto all fours, even as his features rippled and distorted, sprouting scales, wings, even a tail. He grew to immense size, becoming monstrous.

As noted before, while an Animagus form is usually innate to the person, and often connected to their Patronus, a powerful and strong-willed wizard could choose the form. It was ridiculously difficult and time-consuming, but Harry had the resources and will to do it. And he wanted his form to be as powerful as possible.

Which was why he had chosen to become a dragon. And, irony of ironies, as a Hungarian Horntail to boot.

All across the arena, more than a few people knew they should have worn brown pants. Hermione covered up her smugness with a feigned look of surprise. Narberal didn't even bother covering up her tight little smirk. Aura, concealed as she was on top of the audience seating, grinned widely, her brother by her side, looking happy despite his skittishness.

Of course, the most surprised and horrified person was Dumbledore. _This cannot be happening!_ ran through his mind like a mantra, over and over again. Harry could NOT have gotten this powerful so soon! Unlike most, he knew that it was possible for an Animagus to become a magical creature, but it was virtually impossible because of what it required in terms of magical reserves and willpower. And Harry shouldn't have enough determination to do this!

Dumbledore knew that many of his plans were showing cracks before his eyes. His lack of action towards Harry's isolation was meant to try and ensure that the boy would be malleable (even if he hadn't counted on Ronald Weasley's foolishness: Ron may not have been working for him consciously, but he was meant to be Harry's anchor to Magical Britain)…but with this much power, he doubted he could control him anymore. Someone who had a dragon as an Animagus form would not be biddable. Dragons were proud, territorial creatures, fiercely protecting what they chose to, and viciously destroying anything they viewed as a threat. Something that didn't bode well for his plans…

* * *

Harry glared at the spectators gawping at him. It was a risk showing this off, but hopefully, it would be one that paid off. He looked over at the Hungarian Horntail, and growled. _I seek only the false egg these fools placed in your nest_ , he rumbled. _Allow me to take that, and there won't be any trouble_.

The nesting mother merely roared back. _You will NOT take any of my eggs, interloper!_

 _So, we do this the hard way_ , Harry thought, before lunging forward, and slamming her over the head with his claw. He was deceptively agile as a dragon, and with this one chained down, she could only do so much. The two dragons fought, though Harry fought dirty. Eventually, he pinned her down in such a way that, all he had to do was push her down, and the eggs would be crushed. _Allow me to take the golden egg, or see your nest destroyed! Your choice!_ he snarled. Not that he wanted the eggs crushed, partly out of altruism and partly because it would probably affect his score, but he needed leverage.

The dragon thrashed and snarled, before she subsided. _Take it, and go, interloper_ , she growled.

Harry reached down, and plucked it out of the nest. _See? That wasn't so hard. If it's any consolation, I detest you being made part of this spectacle._

 _It's not. Now leave_.

* * *

McGonagall, Pandora's Actor (as Moody), and Hagrid were all waiting for him anxiously as he resumed human form and left the arena. All three were gaping at him in astonishment. "Mr Potter!" McGonagall eventually yelped. "That was…that was…I don't know whether to congratulate you on such a prodigious feat of self-Transfiguration, or else berate you for your recklessness!"

"I've been able to do that for a while," Harry said. "I've already discreetly filed the paperwork at the Ministry so they don't get ornery."

"That's one pretty big ace up your sleeve, Potter," Pandora's Actor, as Moody, growled. Harry thanked whatever deity existed that the normally OTT Doppelganger was playing the role of Moody perfectly. "Even if it makes you a bigger target, both literally and figuratively."

"Yeh…can turn…into a dragon…" Hagrid was stammering in surprise. And given his love of dragons, Harry was afraid that Hagrid was going to try and propose to him. Unfortunately for Hagrid, Harry didn't swing that way.

"Mr Potter, if you would come with me to the first aid tent," McGonagall said. "You may feel fine, but the adrenaline may be covering up your injuries. You fought a dragon as a dragon."

Harry looked down at himself. Yeah, she had a point. He had a number of scratches showing through rents in his robes. Nothing serious, he knew, and he could get better healing potions at Nazarick than he would anywhere else. But they would sting like the dickens when he came down off the adrenaline high.

"He'll be fine if he drinks this," Pandora's Actor said, fishing out a small vial filled with blood-red fluid, which Harry gratefully drank. "It's a healing potion I devised. Stupid bloody Ministry wouldn't approve it for use at St Mungo's, let alone in the field."

A good cover story, and Moody was known for having a lot of his suggestions knocked back by the Ministry, according to Sirius. "Nevertheless," McGonagall said primly, "better to be safe than sorry, especially where an Animagus transformation is concerned."

 ** _Now_** _you show concern_ , Harry thought bitterly. While he still liked McGonagall to a degree, he also remembered that she hadn't listened to their concerns in First Year, and had taken off a disproportionate amount of points when they had been caught helping Hagrid with Norbert. And she had done nothing to curb the rumours that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin in Second Year. Though at least she had protested against Harry participating in this thrice-damned Tournament, so some part of her still gave a crap about him.

But she was still Dumbledore's lackey. Just as much as Hagrid was. And that made her dangerous…

* * *

Pomfrey kept Harry in the first aid tent, even when a scan showed him to be fine. He was sitting there when Hermione came in…as did Ron. The redhead looked contrite, remorseful, and for a moment, Harry was almost tempted to forgive him.

Almost.

"Harry, mate…I reckon…whoever put your name into the Goblet…they were trying to do you in."

Harry just glared at him. Eventually, he said, in a voice that wasn't so much cold as deeply cryogenic, "That was what I was saying the whole time. You didn't believe me then." He jabbed at the badge that was still on Ron's robes. Still on the 'Support Cedric Diggory- The Real Hogwarts Champion' message, but Ron had put it on 'Potter Stinks' more than once. "Even if you didn't buy it from Malfoy, you got that badge out of spite and jealousy. You thought I cheated to get into this stupid bloody Tournament, and only wanted to be in it for the prize money! A **_real_** friend would have heard me out! A **_real_** friend wouldn't have worn one of those badges, one made by Draco Malfoy! Doubt I can understand, but that wasn't doubt. That was **_envy_**. You want what I have. Riches and fame. Well, let me tell you what I don't have that you do, Ronald Weasley. I have no parents, no loving home, no relatives. And as of now, I don't have Ronald Weasley as a friend. Congratulations." Harry began clapping slowly.

Anger and despair warred across Ron's face. "I…you…mate…we're friends!"

"So were my parents and Pettigrew," Harry said coldly. "Look how that turned out. Then again, I've heard about how alike that pets and their owners become."

Ron got red in the face, before bellowing, "Fuck you! I came in here because I was worried about your well-being!"

"Too little, too late," Harry sneered. "You didn't seem so concerned when you heard about me being entered into a Tournament with a high death toll, and you didn't care about my innocence, even when I offered to take Veritaserum. If you want to be my friend again, forget it. With friends like you, who needs enemies?"

"Well, fuck you too, Potter! The only people who want to be your friends are those you've bought! _Just like Malfoy_ ," Ron said, giving Hermione a meaningful look, before storming out.

Harry sighed. That was far easier than he liked, he thought to himself. He had deliberately been harsher with Ron because he didn't want the Weasley hanging around him for much longer. True, Ron could have been a decent friend had Harry given him the chance to be forgiven, but he knew that Ron would never accept him as Ainz Ooal Gown. The Twins might, and so might the older Weasley brothers…but not Ron or the other members of the family. And in truth, Harry had felt the friendship dying anyway. This was just him administering the _coup de grace_.

This wasn't to say that contempt or disdain was all Harry felt for his sundered friendship. He also felt sadness. He had enjoyed his friendship with Ron, and to have it go to pieces like that…

Well, he had other friends, even if they weren't human. Loyal friends. Friends who did not judge him out of petty motives. Friends who weren't afraid to speak their mind when they thought he was wrong, but out of concern rather than envy or one-upmanship.

Case in point, he looked at Hermione, who looked hurt at Ron's parting shot. Quietly, in Parseltongue, he said, " _I didn't buy your friendship. I_ _ **earned**_ _it. You are worth a hundred of him at the very least._ "

She nodded, mollified by his words. In English, she replied, "You know you've just made an enemy of him."

"At least he's an enemy I know where he is," Harry responded. "The Twins should keep him in line."

"Maybe, but I'm willing to bet that Molly's going to send you a Howler after Ron sends a letter," Hermione said.

"Then I'll send one right back at her," Harry said with a shrug. "Hmm, I wonder if I can enhance a Howler with the Aura of Despair…"

 **CHAPTER 13 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, Harry's conquered the First Task with style, and he has broken off his friendship with Ron with considerably less style. Well, that's going to have repercussions…**

 **Keep in mind, in this story, Ron is going to be an antagonist rather than a villain. Or, even if he does become a villain, it's going to be partly because of what happens here. While I read plenty of Ron-bashing stories, and I can see how they extrapolated from his canon character to those fanfics, I also find it hard to write him that way. I think the nadir of his character is his jealousy fit in Year 4 (his leaving Harry and Hermione during Book 7 being a combination of the Horcrux influencing them and understandable anger at the lack of a plan and worry about his family). What I will do with him for the rest of the fic will depend on many things, but there will be no reconciliation between Harry and Ron in this story. If he does become a villain, then Harry's rejection is the true catalyst. Up until now, Ron's biggest sins have been laziness, immaturity, and insensitivity to others.**

 **I'm not going to turn him into a violent rapist like many fanfics portray him as. If I do make him a villain, it will be as a puppet on Dumbledore's strings. And I won't be bringing any more of the Weasley brood in on it: doing Ginny and Molly as villains is a ridiculous cliché in many regards, and I'd rather have any bashing of the Weasleys stop with Ron. Well, and Percy, but he deserves it anyway.**

 **Of course, Harry isn't wholly without fault here. He's become more ruthless and misanthropic. What's more, he's become more focused on helping and protecting those under the aegis of Ainz Ooal Gown. And Harry is confident he can handle any consequences that come his way. I'm not saying he should have reconciled with Ron, but there are ways he could have handled it better.**

 **Of course, there's one way to deal with the Ron issue. Harry could always have Shalltear hypnotise him or make him into her thrall…for the Greater Good. *snickers***

 **Now, Harry's Animagus form being a dragon was something I had in mind since Chapter 7. I still wrote in a fight to avoid a clichéd bypass of the dragon that happens quite a lot on TWT stories, and I wanted to further showcase Harry's increasing ruthlessness by having him threaten the dragon's eggs to get his way. While it wasn't a bluff, he still didn't want to destroy her eggs.**

 **Review-answering time!** **Leicontis** **: While I couldn't remember the story at the time, yes, Kreacher's death was partially inspired by that scene from robst's** ** _Souls Abound_** **. There may have been another fic, but I can't recall what it was.**

 **Yorae Rasante** **: A good argument, but they were pressed for time, and they didn't want to risk him having any countermeasures against Legilimency (which, let's face it, Moody would definitely have, given his paranoia).**

 **OthelloCrass** **: Umm, no? It's based on the famous graffiti.** ** _Brothers in Arms_** **could have used it, though, but it's been around since World War II.**

 **DZ2** **: I'm glad you liked it. It's a bit hypocritical of Hermione to call Voldemort ophidian, considering that, as a Gorgon, she's snake-like herself, but she had lost her temper.**

 **Ultimate-Zelda-fan** **: I did to a certain degree. I love how Martin 'LittleKuriboh' Billany portrayed Frieza in** ** _Dragonball Z Abridged_** **.**

 **Raiden891** **: I'm glad you did. I love that cover.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	15. Chapter 14: The Wages of Envy

**CHAPTER 14:**

 **THE WAGES OF ENVY**

It's probably worth pointing out here that Ronald Weasley was NOT a bad person. His most evil act to date was breaking off a friendship out of jealousy, not realising the full consequences of his actions. But that didn't necessarily make him an evil person, just a thoughtless and selfish one. Ironic, considering that his prowess at chess required one to think ahead, but navigating the chessboard and navigating real life are different things entirely, despite what a certain Lelouch Lamperouge would claim.

When people focused on him, they generally focused on his bad points. And he had many. He was immature, lazy, and tended to be insensitive to the feelings of those around him. But then again, Ron also felt like the bottom of the heap in the Weasley household, the one always getting it in the shorts. Bill was a cursebreaker for Gringotts. Charlie was a dragon handler. Percy had already gotten into the Ministry. And Ginny was doted on.

But Ron…even though Ginny was technically youngest, it was Ron who felt treated like the youngest, forgotten child of the family. The one who got the hand-me-downs, the one who wasn't expected to have any aspirations, the one who was the butt of all the jokes. It was one of the reasons why Ron latched onto the possibility of becoming the friend of the Boy Who Lived…becoming somebody, even if it was by bathing in reflected glory.

This wasn't necessarily a bad thing. In time, and if their friendship withstood the rocky road it would inevitably follow, Ron would eventually grow into something better. Most of the time, anyway, in other timelines, ones where Ainz Ooal Gown didn't exist, save as a guild in an MMORPG in the future. But this time was different.

Ron had a problem with envy. He envied what he didn't have, and Harry seemed to embody that. Harry had gold, fame, and a girlfriend in Hermione (he hadn't been blind to their closeness, but had kept his silence, actually being happy for them at the time when he noticed). And even though he was often reminded that Harry only got gold and fame because of the death of his parents, and had had to suffer with belligerent Muggles, it didn't quite register with Ron.

His problem was, as with many cases of this time, partly a matter of ignorance and perspective. He didn't know what it was like to grow up with Muggles, let alone with ones like the Dursleys. Even his participation in rescuing Harry after the incident with Dobby only helped so much. He was still fixated on Harry's money and fame…and, in his mind, after Harry's name came out of the Goblet, it seemed like Harry was going to get more, and wasn't going to share it with Ron, his best mate. Harry's denial made it worse, because it felt like Harry was lying to _his best friend_. In fact, he was almost certain that Harry had been doing so ever since he got back from summer holidays, living it up with Sirius.

Envy turned to spite when Ron asked for one of the badges from one of the Hufflepuffs (no way in hell he would buy it from Malfoy!), after a blazing row that had Ron still cemented firmly in his position that he was right, and Harry was wrong. Veritaserum, his father told him, was not used in a magical court of law due to some wizards being able to resist it(1), so such a statement from Harry was worthless.

It wasn't until the First Task that it hit home what Harry was about to get into. Charlie had been a font of anecdotes about dragons and their dangers. And Ron found himself wracked with remorse. Harry was going up against one of those beasts, with just a wand.

And then, Harry had used that dragon Animagus transformation. While jealousy nearly raised its ugly head (wasn't Harry supposed to share that he knew how to transform into a dragon with _his best friend?_ ), it was smothered, at least for the time being, by awe.

But when Hermione brought him down, and Ron intended to apologise…Harry had thrown it back at him. Ron didn't know why, and he was sure that his friend had changed too much for his liking. His friend had never had those cold, darkness-filled eyes, save for once, when he vowed to deal with Sirius Black. Ron felt his world being destroyed around him.

And like many who had suffered such shattering events…he didn't take it well.

He very nearly spoke to that bitch Skeeter, but he didn't. It was tempting to give a tell-all exclusive interview to the Prophet. But Skeeter was very much a double-edged sword, even Ron's stubborn mind could see that. And his mind, underused though it was, was going to work.

Harry had changed over the summer holidays. He was getting more affectionate with Hermione, Harry seemed to be older and, well, a bit more like he was putting on airs and graces. Then, there was that Nabe girl who was apparently his bodyguard. And there were other things too. Harry had taken to sneaking out at night. That wouldn't have bothered Ron so much, but Harry was doing it without him.

So, the night of the day after the First Task, he waited until Harry snuck out, and then carefully followed Harry and Hermione, who had gone with that Nabe girl. It was tricky, doing it without the Invisibility Cloak, but Ron managed. And he found they were heading to the bathrooms that led to the Chamber of Secrets…

Ron had gotten lucky until now. But when he waited outside the bathroom, listening for the grinding of the opening of the entrance, he didn't even see the jet of crimson light heading towards him from behind before he was knocked unconscious…

* * *

When he woke up, it was to a nightmarish sight. He was in a dark, underground chamber, with a throne in front of him, lit by eerie magical light. Near the throne were a quintet of women, dressed in maid outfits, with a stern, bearded man in a butler's outfit nearby. One of the maids, a cute-looking one with strangely blank crimson eyes, set his instincts screaming more than any other.

On the other side of the throne was a dark-haired girl with golden eyes, black wings growing from her hips, and horns on her head. There was also a Gorgon, as well as a silver-haired, red-eyed girl. All three looked vaguely familiar for some reason, though he couldn't put his finger on it.

On the throne proper was a hooded and robed figure, clutching a golden staff, elaborately-decorated with jewels and sculpted serpents. Ron couldn't see their facial features beneath the hood, but he knew the figure was staring at him. No, _glaring_ at him.

"Greetings, Ronald Bilious Weasley," said the hooded figure sitting on the throne, his voice tenebrous and dark. "Welcome to my court. I am Ainz Ooal Gown."

With that, Ron felt a thrill of fear run through his spine. He knew of that name, if only as a boogeyman of the Wizarding World. An immortal wizard, a Dark Lord, although the line was, supposedly, wiped out.

"Well? Do you have nothing to say? Kneazle got your tongue?" Ainz Ooal Gown demanded.

"What have you done with Harry?!" Ron demanded, his indignation winning out over his fear. "What have you done to him?!"

"What makes you think that I did anything to him?"

"You must've done something! He was my best friend, and…"

"You threw him away in a fit of jealousy," said one of the maids, one he realised, with a start, looked like Nabe, albeit a little older. "Fleas like you do not appreciate what you have until you discard it."

"Don't talk to me like that!" Ron yelled. "You've done something to him, used the Imperius or something! He wouldn't stop being friends with me!"

"Oh? And yet, you stopped being friends with him first," the dark-haired girl with the horns said, her golden eyes narrowing dangerously. "You didn't believe him when he said his name didn't come out of the Goblet of Fire. You broke off your friendship out of envy and spite, a friendship that, by all accounts, was your biggest purpose in life. You are a fool, Ronald Weasley. Your foolishness has cost you a friendship, and it will soon cost you a lot more."

"You don't scare me!" Ron lied, bravado tinging his words.

"You _stink_ of fear," the silver-haired girl sneered. "You stink of as much fear as you can exude without soiling yourself."

"Enough, Shalltear," the man claiming to be Ainz Ooal Gown rebuked softly, but the silver-haired girl flinched. "And Albedo, I was going to be the one doing that speech."

"I'm sorry, my lord," she said, the two girls turning and bowing to him. Ron couldn't help but notice Albedo's callipygian figure through her dress. It gave him something to focus on other than the fear. So too was his righteous anger.

"Now, what to do about you, Ronald Weasley?" Ainz mused. "I had considered killing you outright, but that would raise too many questions. But you also cannot keep a secret to save your life, given your flux of the mouth."

"Shut up!" Ron snarled. "Where's Harry?!"

"And since when did you care, Ronald Weasley?" Ainz said icily. "As Albedo said, you foolishly sundered your friendship in the name of jealousy. You threw away over three years of friendship because you thought he cheated his way into the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Well, with friends like you, who needs enemies? Given your big mouth, I cannot risk you saying anything. _Stupefy_ …"

* * *

As Ron slumped to the ground from the jet of red light, Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. Yet another complication. Though thankfully, he had a potential solution. Legilimency.

Memory Charms had the drawback of being potentially undoable. Potentially, but not actually, not all the time. And it may not prevent Ron from getting suspicious of Harry all over again. And killing him, while wholly not out of the question, would raise too many questions, and while there were a couple of other Doppelgangers in Ainz Ooal Gown, none had the acting ability of Pandora's Actor. Besides, Ron had been Harry's friend, once. Harry had too many feelings for him to simply kill him in cold blood. And having Shalltear turn him into one of her thralls might not work.

After the debacle involving Crouch and Moody, Harry had, in discussions with the others, formulated potential strategies to deal with anyone else. Legilimency was one of them, for those he was fairly sure had no experience in Occlumency. He could use it to rearrange Ron's memories and desires. The memories of his meeting here would have to go, as would any desire to find out what Harry and the others were up to. Harry would also tweak Ron's emotions. He'd ensure the jealousy and hurt still came through: people would question if Ron suddenly became Harry's friend again after Harry publicly disavowed him (something that had already spread throughout the school). But he would also make Ron sullen rather than desiring to lash out.

On an impish whim, he decided to improve his former friend a little. Maybe he could pare back the laziness. Ron wasn't stupid, just lazy, and maybe, with less of that holding him back, he would make it somewhere. Okay, it was tampering with his mind, but hopefully, all parties would benefit in the end. Ron could actually make something of himself rather than coasting by in the reflected glory of the Boy Who Lived. Who died bleeding on the floor of the room given to him grudgingly by the Dursleys.

With that decision made, and telling the others what he intended, he prepared himself to enter Ron's mind…

* * *

"Harry is being too merciful with him," Albedo remarked with a disdainful sniff as Harry went to work on Ron's mind.

"They were friends once," Hermione said quietly. "He may have severed ties with Ron, but that doesn't mean he's lost all feelings for him. He was effectively the younger child of the family, given less attention even than his younger sister. He probably latched onto Harry as a means of becoming known by proxy."

"I'm surprised you speak so well of him, given not only his insults to Harry, but to you," Shalltear remarked. "It was his callous remark that caused you to end up facing a Troll, not to mention that debacle with Sirius Black sending the broomstick."

"Ron is an immature child," Hermione said solemnly. "For a time, I thought he could be shown the error of his ways. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case."

"He is a cockroach that should have been stepped on by our lord, _hard_ ," Narberal said coldly, glaring down at the comatose redhead.

"The death of Ronald Weasley so soon after a very public falling out with Harry will arouse suspicions," Sebas pointed out patiently. "There is a time for the blunt force of a hammer, and the precision of a scalpel. That being said, we should consider a different way for the three of you to come here discreetly. Perhaps you could call upon Dobby or Winky to transport you between your dorms and this place in future."

"Ugh, I wish I'd thought of that," Hermione scowled, chastising herself at her lack of lateral thinking here. "Thanks, Sebas. Harry's sure to thank you for that idea too."

"You're very welcome. I am pleased that Harry is willing to listen to the advice of his subjects, even if he doesn't always follow it," Sebas said. "I have been the head butler for Ainz Ooal Gown for some time, and so far, Harry has been one of the best, despite his youth. While it is my solemn duty to serve Ainz Ooal Gown, not all have been, shall we say, understanding? Some viewed us as resources or disposable soldiers, not as beings to protect, and to be protected by in their turn."

"Harry's not like that," Hermione said. "He views loyalty as a two-way street. He'd die for his friends…though he'd prefer, as we all do, that other people, our enemies, die instead." She then looked at Shalltear. "Besides, sucking his blood to make him a thrall…do you really want to do that?"

"After the Dursleys? Probably not," Shalltear said with a haughty sniff. "I've had my fill of gluttons, and while he is not obese like they are, just the thought of drinking him…" She shuddered in disgust.

* * *

Sometime afterwards, Harry finished with Ron, and had Dobby take him to bed, sending him to sleep. Hopefully, this will be the last they need to deal with him. Harry then looked at them. "We'll need to keep an eye on him from now on, in case something like this happens again. Anyway, we'd better get to what we intended to discuss tonight before he intruded…namely the Second Task, and the Yule Ball…"

 **CHAPTER 14 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, there you have it. Ron's been taken out of the picture. It took a bit to figure out what to do with him, and to do so quickly. I was still uncomfortable with the idea of bashing him, so I decided on this. As of this chapter, he has become irrelevant.**

 **I think that's part of the problem with Ron. For all his being one of the main characters, he's kind of bland. And there are, of course, the various things that the fans take issue with, particularly in Books 4 and 7. But I don't hate Ron. He tends to become more…irrelevant in fics I do. He's not really interesting. Which is a shame, really. Ron is more of a plot device than anything else, meant to tell Harry about various everyday things about Magical Britain (whereas Hermione would be for the higher-end stuff that actually needs research).**

 **Anyway, this may be the last chapter for a while. That I got this one out before the new year is astonishing. Hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will focus on the Yule Ball.**

 **Review-answering time!** **DZ2** **: Umm, okaaaay? I don't really share your opinion of Ron, but I'm not a Ron-hater, more…** ** _meh_** **towards him. But I'm glad you liked the reveal of Harry's Animagus form being a dragon. I had planned that for a while. But I also didn't want the First Task to be over before it began. One thing that does annoy me about some fanfic versions of the First Task is that Harry wins either by persuading the dragon using Parseltongue to give him the egg (which works well for more humorous fics like** ** _Harry Potter, Unexpected Animagus_** **by DWDuck, which I recommend, BTW), or by summoning it somehow. Even in stories with an OP Harry, I like to have him striving to some degree, like in** ** _Henry Ashford and the Goblet of Fire_** **, where he uses his powers given to him by the Sentinel Virus to basically beat the crap out of a dragon in melee combat.**

 **ElementalMaster16** **: True, but Harry is partly to blame, given his misanthropy. He could have let Ron down easily, or he could have forgiven him (keep in mind, what Ron did could have been enough for Harry to give him a second chance, albeit only one). I'm not saying he should have. But Harry's darker mindset, and his need to push away anyone who would object to him being Ainz Ooal Gown, had him do otherwise. Plus, I made Ron's actions worse than in canon.**

 **EroSlackerMicha** **: I think part of the problem with canon McGonagall is something other writers have pointed out: she's juggling three jobs, and she tries (and fails) to be strict and fair, with a minimum of favouritism.**

 **Guest** **: Yeah. When I say that, I mean the Amortentia-peddling version you see in too many fanfics. Oh, some of them are good ones, and I can enjoy the story in spite of the bashing, but even so…**

 **BMS** **: Oh Merlin** ** _no_** **. Doing it to someone else might be, though, but even that's nightmarish enough. Ugh.**

 **NHarem Foreva** **: …What the actual** ** _fuck_** **are you smoking?**

 **reader713** **: No. I've done enough Lunar Harmony stories anyway. And she's too young at this point, so while she can use that training chamber, I'm still leaving it at that. Actually, she'd probably end up in a relationship with the Pleiades, knowing her. All of them…**

 **Actually, on a related note, it was partly Solution Epsilon that inspired me to make a Shoggoth Luna in my Cthulhu Mythos crossover** ** _It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)_** **. Not to mention the adorable Shoggoth girl from the webcomic** ** _Ow! My Sanity_** **.**

 **dEBB987** **: It's great to get this review from you, given your own** ** _Overlord_** **crossovers. Harry ending up in the world of** ** _Overlord_** **is more common than characters from the Tomb of Nazarick ending up in the Potterverse, though that's not unheard-of. I actually think it's more interesting to transplant characters from the Tomb of Nazarick into other fictional verses than having other characters take Momonga's place…no offence intended for your story, which I wholeheartedly recommend. For those of you bothering to read this, go and read dEBB987's story** ** _The Master of Death in Nazarik_** **, along with its spinoffs.**

 **DalkonCledwin** **: You don't need to know about** ** _Overlord_** **to read this, though it helps. In this story…well, I haven't gone into it, but here, Dementors are loathed even by the denizens of Nazarick, especially after Ekrizdis created more and used them to torment those within Nazarick. I am aware of Captain Nemo from Jules Verne…as well as Nemo from the Charles Dickens novel** ** _Bleak House_** **. To those who know Latin, it's a fairly blatant alias. As for a Bellatrix-redemption fic…well, I did that once in** ** _Renaissance of the Renegades_** **, and maybe I'll do it again, but to Harry in this story, Bellatrix is a rabid dog that needs to be put down. Plus, she was so much like Clementine from the second novel, I thought it appropriate for her to die in much the same way.**

 **1\. Rowling has stated this, hence part of the reason for Ron disbelieving Harry.**


	16. Chapter 15: Evileye

**CHAPTER 15:**

 **EVILEYE**

Harry's meddling with Ron's mind, thankfully, seemed to work. Which was good. Harry didn't want to kill the boy who had been his best friend. Albedo and Shalltear chided him for having such sentiment, as did Narberal, but Hermione understood. So did Sebas and some of the others.

In any case, they were already formulating strategies for the Second Task. As it meant that Harry would have to retrieve a hostage from the Black Lake, it meant he needed to find a way to swim underwater for an extended period. Thankfully, many of the denizens of Nazarick were knowledgeable about such things, with Sebas, Demiurge, Aura and Mare (who had come to the Chamber of Secrets for later brainstorming sessions) being of particular help.

While a Bubble-Head Charm seemed like a good idea, as did partial Transfiguration, it was Aura and Mare's suggestion of Gillyweed that seemed like the best. Muggle equipment would be looked askance upon, so SCUBA gear was probably out, and a JIM suit, which Demiurge could get through one of his contacts outside the Tomb of Nazarick, might be too unwieldy anyway. It would hamper the ability to use spells.

The question was, who would they use as a hostage? Despite the ominous rhyme from the golden egg, which they submerged to confirm the particulars of the Second Task, what they gleaned from Bagman's mind stated that, barring accidents, the hostages would not be harmed, even after the hour was up: they would be returned by the Merpeople.

Harry's gut feeling was on Hermione being chosen as his hostage. But he also had to be careful. While aggressive, the Merpeople of the Black Lake had also refused to swear allegiance to Ainz Ooal Gown, and if Harry revealed his abilities or Hermione revealed her true nature, they'd be in trouble. The Merpeople were Dumbledore's lackeys, after all, and Harry had to veto a couple of Albedo and Demiurge's suggestions to poison the Black Lake during the Second Task, not least of which because the hostages could be exposed to the poison. Never mind committing mass murder simply because of maybes rather than certainties.

Harry would commit murder, and on a large scale, but only if he needed to. He wasn't like Voldemort, who ruled by fear and loved to hear the screams of his victims. Harry had a sadistic streak that was coming out lately, true: it had showed in his treatment of Bellatrix Lestrange. But it was generally in proportionate response to the evil of his victim at the time. Shalltear and Albedo had come to understand this. Both of them had sadistic streaks a mile wide, but they also tempered them at his orders. All of the denizens of Nazarick did, though Harry still had to wonder at a potential mutiny from some corners.

The main problem, he thought, was Demiurge. Of all the Guardians within Nazarick, he was not only one of the strongest, but also one of the most intelligent and devious. What was more, this was coupled with a strong sadistic streak and had a silver tongue to boot. Oh, he was capable of genuine kindness: Harry had seen, for example, the way he treated Mare, the unctuous demon having a soft spot for the Dark Elf. But he was also dangerous and devious. And many in Nazarick followed Demiurge's suggestions without questioning them. It didn't necessarily mean that Demiurge would mutiny, only that he would have to keep an eye on him.

However, the world wasn't quite done throwing him curveballs. Especially when he received word from Xenophilus Lovegood of a rumour he had heard…

* * *

It was the weekend after Ron's date with amnesia, and Harry and Hermione, along with Narberal, had agreed to meet Xenophilus in the Shrieking Shack. Officially, Xenophilus had invited them here to discuss a possible article on the Shrieking Shack's history. However, his actual purpose was another matter entirely.

"I should get to the point," Xenophilus said. "A contact of mine within the Department of Mysteries may have found Evileye."

Harry frowned. "Sorry, what?"

Hermione and Narberal's actions, however, were considerably more strong. "Evileye? Are you certain?" Hermione asked.

"No, I can't be," Xenophilus said. "Remember, I said 'may have'. But it's the biggest lead we have since Evileye's disappearance."

Harry put up his hand. "Sorry, can someone fill me in? What's Evileye? Is that like Voldemort's version of Moody's eye?"

" _No_ , Harry," Hermione said with an irritated roll of the eyes. "Evileye is not an object. Evileye is a _person_. She was the personal bodyguard of a number of the leaders of Ainz Ooal Gown for nearly two centuries."

Narberal nodded. "Lady Evileye was the adoptive sister of Lady Shalltear's father. He turned her when she was twelve, after he found her in the streets. Turned True Vampires remain at the age they were turned, unlike those who are born into True Vampirehood. She disappeared at about the same time as the previous Ainz Ooal Gown did. For a time, we believed her to have either betrayed us, or else to have perished. Lady Shalltear has never given up hope that her aunt was still alive."

"This is news to me," Harry said.

"Her aunt is still very much a sore point with Shalltear," Hermione said. "She doesn't like to talk about it, not even to me or Albedo, as some considered Evileye to be a traitor to Ainz Ooal Gown. Lord and Lady Bloodfallen are sore enough points with her already. And we don't like to talk about it in front of her, as she sometimes gets angry."

Harry nodded in thought. Shalltear hadn't spoken much about her parents. What he knew came from others. Lord Bloodfallen was a True Vampire, and his consort was a fallen Valkyrie. The pair of them were killed by vampires working under Voldemort not long before Voldemort's downfall, though not before they decimated their attackers. Shalltear was the only one of their children to survive so far, as the others had been killed by vampire hunters or rival vampires. Shalltear never knew her siblings.

Eventually, he said, "Xenophilus, this informant, what exactly did they tell you?"

"They're an Unspeakable working in the Department of Mysteries, and they came across a blonde-haired vampire, apparently pre-pubescent, being experimented upon. I managed to get a copy of his memories. I have never met Evileye, but I know many in Ainz Ooal Gown may have." Xenophilus proffered a vial filled with silvery liquid, which Harry took. It was memories that could be used with a Pensieve.

"Thank you, Xenophilus," Harry said.

* * *

Later that night, having made arrangements to head to Nazarick, they watched as Sebas and Demiurge used a Pensieve to view the memories, before resurfacing. Given the set of their faces, it seemed that for once, the two were united in their anger for what had been done to their comrade. Shalltear, who had been told of the news, demanded impatiently, "Is it her?! Is Aunty Evileye still alive?!"

"It seems that way," Sebas said grimly, his calm tone belying his utter anger. "The Unspeakables seem to be experimenting on her to further determine the truth about True Vampire biology, as well as find a way to mimic the regenerative ability of True Vampires."

"Then we need to go and rescue her!" Shalltear demanded.

"Patience, Shalltear," Demiurge said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "The Department of Mysteries is deep within the bowels of the Ministry of Magic. Our previous lord and master was an Unspeakable, but we believe that he was betrayed and murdered by one of his supposed allies within the Department. Charging into one of the more secure areas of the Ministry will only serve to expose us unnecessarily. Infiltration will be difficult now that we have withdrawn Pandora's Actor and had him imitate Moody, and we have no Doppelgangers available who are as good at acting and infiltration as he is. Do not misunderstand me, Shalltear, I do not intend to let Lady Evileye suffer under these pathetic creatures' ministrations for any longer than she has to. I will go and speak with Xenophilus before long, to ask about his informant. For all we know, this is bait in a trap. I don't doubt the authenticity of the memory or Xenophilus' loyalty to us, only the motives of the informant."

"Well, for infiltration, can Entoma use her bugs?" Harry asked.

The bug-like member of the Pleiades nodded, and trilled, "While I have not used them to infiltrate the Ministry yet, I am able to use them to perform reconnaissance."

"Right, get on that as soon as you can, please," Harry said to Entoma. "Map every inch of the Department of Mysteries that you can."

"If I may, my lord?" Demiurge said. "We should take the opportunity to find out whether the Department of Mysteries has anything pertaining to yourself, Voldemort, Dumbledore, or Ainz Ooal Gown. It would be especially prudent to see if there were any prophecies surrounding you. Prophecies uttered about personages are archived in the Department, and if there is one, perhaps it may explain Voldemort's foolish fixation on your demise."

"Demiurge is correct, my lord," Sebas said, with an inflection that suggested, _I can't believe I'm saying that out loud_. "While Voldemort was noted for killing those who disagree with him, his particular obsession with your demise seems unusual."

Hermione frowned in thought. "Dumbledore did say to Harry last year that Trelawney had uttered one true prophecy, other than the one foretelling Pettigrew's escape. While I don't think that dipsomaniacal charlatan would have uttered a prophecy leading to Voldemort attacking Harry, it's something to keep in mind."

"Then by your leave, my lord, I will begin formulating a plan to rescue Lady Evileye," Demiurge said with a bow. "I already have a possible idea. Given the riot at the Quidditch World Cup and the disappearance of the Death Eaters from Azkaban's prison, I think we should consider a false flag operation, where the cover story is that Death Eaters raid the Department of Mysteries, and cause considerable mayhem and destruction."

"Try to do so with a minimal loss of life, Demiurge," Harry said. "Those hurting Evileye must pay, but…are there any other useful resources within the Department of Mysteries?"

"Well, they store Time-Turners," Demiurge said. "Of course, our own time chamber is a more efficient way of training, and with less of a chance of causing a paradox. It was actually our previous lord who created it based on Time-Turner technology. There are also many useful items or tomes that they store. And there are the prophecies."

"May I add something?" Sebas asked. On Harry's nod, the butler said, "Our previous lord told us something about the Department, including how the Hall of Prophecies work. Only those who are the subject of the prophecy can pick up the prophecy orb, as a safeguard, otherwise magical defences are triggered that can drive the one touching it into catatonia, and I cannot be certain whether this would affect one of us. Therefore, Demiurge, if we are to retrieve the one pertaining to Harry…"

"I assure you, Sebas, I have already thought of a solution to that particular problem. Wizards are spectacularly inept at lateral thinking. I do not intend to risk our lord in this retrieval. Removing the prophecy orb alone without his presence may be an invitation for trouble. But what about removing the part of the shelf it is sitting on, and taking it with us?"

Sebas, after a moment, gave the demon a grudging nod of approval. "An elegant solution. I presume you will be laying waste to the Hall of Prophecies to disguise the theft?"

"But of course," Demiurge said. "The Unspeakables will assume, especially with the Death Eater outfits, that some followers of Voldemort tried to obtain the prophecy, only to become frustrated, and decided to destroy it."

"Very well," Harry said. "I will leave the planning to you. But I want no loss of life on our side, and a minimal loss of life on theirs at most. Anyone involved in torturing Evileye is fair game, though if our informant was brought into that section…spare them and spirit them away to Nazarick."

Demiurge bowed. "I will endeavour to meet your standards, my lord…"

* * *

It was a nerve-wracking couple of weeks, made even worse by discussions on the Yule Ball. Harry was expected as a Champion to dance, and McGonagall had forced him to endure a number of dancing lessons. Thankfully, Hermione agreed immediately to be his date to the Yule Ball. Ron and Krum approached her, but upon learning she already had a date, they went to find others. Ron gained Lavender Brown, and Krum eventually got the Slytherin Tracey Davis as a date.

Finally, though, Demiurge, along with Sebas, the Pleiades (sans Narberal, of course), and a few other trusted members of Nazarick (Shalltear wasn't allowed to come because she might have caused even more destruction than they needed, Cocytus was most definitely not human-like in appearance at all, and Albedo decided to stay at Harry's side), made their raid on the Department of Mysteries. Harry, along with the other high-ranking members of Nazarick, waited in the throne room that night, for news good or ill.

Eventually, Demiurge and Sebas entered, followed by the Pleiades in formation, sans Shizu. Sebas was carrying a fragment of shelf as if it were a serving tray, and the prophecy orb a cloche covering a plate of food. Demiurge was carrying a bundle in a black cloak. "Success, my lord!" Demiurge crowed triumphantly. "Paramount success! Lupin, conjure up a bed."

Remus nodded, waving his wand, and a statue turning into a bed. Shalltear hurried over, as did Harry, Hermione, and Albedo, as Demiurge laid the bundle down on the bed. Shalltear all but tore away the cloak from the top of the bundle, only to gasp in horror, a gasp echoed by Harry and Hermione. Albedo didn't gasp, though her face contorted into a grotesque scowl of disgust and anger. "Demiurge," she said coldly, "have the ones responsible for this outrage been punished?"

"Two Unspeakables were present, experimenting upon her," Demiurge said, his tone grim and solemn. "Solution and Entoma have been given them to deal with as they see fit."

Solution belched quietly, and murmured, "Pardon me. Mine disagreed with something that ate him(1)."

Harry nodded, though his attention was more on the girl lying on the bed, her head, mercifully, the only part exposed. She appeared to be about twelve, with shoulder length blonde hair framing a face that would have been considered cute had it not been for all the wounds on her face. She looked like she had barely survived an attack from a werewolf. "How come she's wounded?" Hermione asked. "Vampires can regenerate wounds like these unless they come from holy weapons or spells with holy modifications."

"She was worse when we found her," Sebas said quietly. "I used my chi abilities to repair the worst of the damage. I have sent Shizu to fetch a potion from the sickbay, one that can be used on vampires. Mare's magic can only do so much."

"Worst of the damage?!" Shalltear demanded.

"Yes. They had drained her of blood, leaving enough to keep her barely alive," Sebas said. "They were testing the limits of her regenerative ability. I took their notes. She will need blood in addition to the potion, and urgently. I will offer my own."

"No, Sebas. Can my blood be used?" Harry asked quietly.

"…Well, yes, my lord, but…"

"You've done enough tonight in saving one of our people. I'm meant to be your leader. How much will be needed? If necessary, I will have a Blood-Replenishing Potion."

"That won't be necessary," Sebas said. "A couple of ounces will suffice."

Shizu reappeared in the throne room, and the robot maid hurried over, and helped Evileye drink the potion she fetched. Evileye managed to avoid choking on the potion thanks to Shizu and Sebas' help. Harry then took a proffered knife from Sebas, and pricked his finger with it, wincing a little at the pain, and put the wounded finger into Evileye's mouth. She suckled on it greedily like an infant at the breast, her tongue rasping against his finger. It was somewhat uncomfortable doing this, if only because she was covered only by the cloak, and eventually, he took his finger away, healing the wound, and watching as Evileye's own wounds and injuries healed up.

The vampire's eyes flickered open, revealing crimson orbs so much like Shalltear's own. "…Shalltear?" she rasped.

"…Aunt Evileye…" Shalltear began, tears welling up in her eyes. "Welcome back."

 **CHAPTER 15 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Well, that just happened.**

 **Now, I have to be honest, I was struggling to find the motivation to write any more of this story. I didn't want to write another rehash of the Yule Ball yet, and I didn't know what to write as filler inbetween. I did say after the previous chapter that the next one would be a while coming, having recognised this, and I thought a new chapter wouldn't be out for months at the least. Hell, my** ** _Red vs Blue/Overlord_** **crossover** ** _Xenagogy for Belligerent AIs and Dungeon Denizens_** **is catching up to this story in terms of wordcount (and please, please give it a go: it badly needs more love, IMO).**

 **But then, I got inspiration.**

 ** _Overlord_** **fans will doubtless know already, but Books 5 and 6, which comprise two parts of an arc called** ** _The Men of the Kingdom_** **, have only just been released in an official English translation (yes, I know there's a fan translation out there, but I'm willing to wait for the official release). I finished reading it only a few days ago (as of writing this), and I felt that together, they made the best story in the series. I personally can't wait to get the second series on DVD, despite the relevant episodes not yet aired in Japan as of writing this. And many of the new (well, new in that they played larger roles in the novel, some of them) characters stuck out to me: Climb, Renner, Tsuare, and the Blue Roses. And I had a notion: what if I could introduce one of them to the Potterverse? The one that sprang most easily to mind was Evileye.**

 **Now, I'm changing some elements to her character, for obvious reasons to fans of the light novels. Here, Evileye is allied with Ainz Ooal Gown, or rather, she chooses to follow the leaders of that organisation who meet with her personal approval (and that will include Harry). I had her be a relation of sorts to Shalltear, turned by her father as an honorary sister for him (and yes, I know I stated that Shalltear can age, but that is because she is a BORN True Vampire in this story, not one who was turned: Evileye, sadly, hasn't aged from being twelve, as in** ** _Overlord_** **canon). But she will still have the combination of world-weariness and cynicism, with unexpected childishness, that the canon version had.**

 **No doubt some of you will see this as my shark-jumping moment. To which I say, bite me.**

 **Review-answering time!** **DZ2** **: I'm glad to hear it. And yes, that would be the case. The Dursleys would give most cannibals or blood drinkers cholesterol poisoning. Well, Dudley and Vernon would…**

 **dEBB987** **: Nonetheless, it's still a fairly good crossover. So it behoves me to recommend it.**

 **Nyx the Author** **: Nemo, as I said before in the review-answering for the previous chapter, is Latin for Nobody. I'm guessing they chose the name for the Disney film because of its association with Captain Nemo from** ** _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_** **.**

 **Gensuru** **: Hermione stole the Philosopher's Stone, so Harry is not going to become a lich like Momonga. Besides, with the harem he has, he likes his equipment to stay where it is, thank you.**

 **1\. Solution's remark is derived from a macabre joke left on the shark-mangled but alive body of Felix Leiter in the James Bond novel** ** _Live and Let Die_** **. While this didn't make it into the film, it was brought into the film of** ** _Licence to Kill_** **.**


	17. Chapter 16: The Vampiress and the Wizard

**CHAPTER 16:**

 **THE VAMPIRESS AND THE WIZARD**

Evileye was an interesting addition to the dynamic of Ainz Ooal Gown. Despite, or because of, her childlike frame, her personality had some childish tinges to a very solemn, adult nature. In fact, despite not being actually related by blood, she and Shalltear were alike in many other ways. But in other ways, they were very different. Evileye was far more adult than Shalltear.

Once she was well enough to meet with Harry properly, Harry met her in the auxiliary throne room he had set up in the Chamber of Secrets. Now properly dressed, he noted that she wore black enchanted clothes, over which she wore a red, hooded cloak that put Harry in mind a little of Little Red Riding Hood…if she was a vampire. As she looked him over (on Sebas' advice, he didn't meet her while seated on a throne, but standing face to face), Harry got the impression she was sizing him up. "So, you're the Boy Who Lived. Those idiots always did love overinflated epithets," she remarked. "You have your mother's eyes, you know."

Harry frowned. While it was a common thing for people who knew his parents to say, they usually led up to it by saying he looked like his father. "So I am told," Harry said archly.

Evileye chuckled softly. It had a tired, weary sound to it. "I was told of how you were brought into your legacy. Ainz Ooal Gown, sadly, has been in decline for some time, and not just because of outside forces targeting the heirs. A bitter irony, that the Boy Who Lived is the last scion of the dynasty. Sorry, I have a tendency to speak my mind. I don't look it, but I am over two centuries old. Such a long period of life can make one jaded."

"It's okay. As long as you're my ally, you can call me Harry, and call me out on any stupid shit, within reason," Harry said. "You're very different to Shalltear."

"That's partly her youth, and partly her upbringing. I think Sebas did as fine a job as any could have," Evileye said. "Whereas me, well…I may have the frame of a child, but my mind is ancient. I still act childishly, but…not very often. I actually knew your mother. The previous Ainz Ooal Gown investigated potential heirs to his legacy, in case he needed to help them. I gave your mother various tomes, including the ritual she used to save your life, though I did so under an alias."

"And she wasn't aware of her links to Ainz Ooal Gown?"

"I doubt it, and even if she did…she was a bit too righteous, from what I saw of her. Oh, I think she would have come around in the end, but…" Evileye shrugged. "Then again, I was surprised that you joined so readily."

"Albedo, Shalltear, and Mare saved my life," Harry said. "And to be honest…my faith in humanity's been on the wane for a while. Oh, I'm not going to be like Grindlewald or Voldemort, conquer the world overtly, kill everyone in my way…but I don't really care much about human lives that much anymore, especially the wizards."

Evileye went over to the steps leading to the throne, and sat down on them, and then gestured for Harry to do so as well. "Harry," she said quietly, "let me give you some advice. I can't tell you not to be misanthropic. And I doubt you'll let it bring risk to the people under your aegis. But remember that you are responsible for them. And don't hate all humans, or even the majority of them. I was human once myself, and there are times I regret being turned. I only serve an Ainz Ooal Gown I find worthy."

"And am I?" Harry asked archly.

"That remains to be seen, though I can tell you're not the power-hungry megalomaniac type. No, you want to protect the people here." Evileye smiled. "Actually, Shalltear's been singing your praises. The last time I saw her, she was just a baby. Now she's grown even more than me." She looked down at her child-like body ruefully. "That's one of the problems with having a body like this for eternity. The only people who'd want me would be paedophiles."

Harry gently gave the centuries-old vampire a hug. "Hey, it's okay. I've always wanted an aunt who isn't a bitch, even if you'd be more like a little sister in looks. If you're willing to still work with me…"

"Yes. I am. Though don't expect me to be on the best of terms with Entoma," Evileye said. "I mean, I'm glad she helped rescue me, but she probably did that out of duty to you."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well, it's a long story. I got into an argument with her great-aunt, and it got physical. I used a special spell of my devising against her, Vermin Bane, and while she was strong enough to withstand it…well, you know how Entoma uses a sort of beetle as a facemask, and a special leech to sound human?" Harry nodded. "Well, it killed the leech and the beetle, and their family don't like not being seen as cute. Their family has had a bit of a grudge against me ever since."

"Oh." Harry thought back to Entoma. He knew she was a bug creature of some kind, and that she disguised herself using those bugs Evileye mentioned. "Well, as long as you two can work together civilly, I'll be fine."

"We should be able to. Incidentally…thank you for feeding me your blood. You're the first Ainz Ooal Gown to do that for me…though that is admittedly the first time I have been in such a bad condition since I was turned."

"You mean a lot to Shalltear. I love her as much as I do Albedo and Hermione, odd though that is."

She scoffed. "It's not unheard of for one holding the title of Ainz Ooal Gown to have a harem. I don't care as long as all parties are willing and there's no real age issues. And as I said, Shalltear's been singing your praises. Pretty much all of them are. I've rarely seen Mare so happy with one of our leaders before. True, they treat him well, but you're the first Ainz Ooal Gown to treat him so _kindly_. Our previous lord was a good man, but he was somewhat detached and distant. He became that way especially as Voldemort grew in power and audacity. Aura didn't help matters: her idea of helping her brother was effectively bullying him into training to get stronger. She loves him dearly, but thanks to their losing their parents at a young age, not to mention many of her pets to wizards, she's got a rather broken way of showing it."

Harry nodded. Aura had been laying off Mare lately, but he hadn't failed to notice the Dark Elf girl putting too much pressure on her skittish brother at times, and he reprimanded her at times. But he knew Aura cared for her brother deeply. A thought occurred to him. "Evileye…I want to ask something…about Demiurge…"

"You want to know whether he's trustworthy?" Evileye asked. "Your predecessor asked me the same thing when we first met…and I will respond the same way. You can trust Demiurge to do what he thinks is best for Ainz Ooal Gown. That being said, he is a demon, and while his loyalty to you is absolute, he also has a habit of interpreting orders to suit his own ends. He would never turn traitor…but unless you make it clear what you desire from him in terms of his actions, he may do something that will repulse you. You needn't fear anything like that from Cocytus or Sebas, as their honourable natures would prevent them from doing so unless you ordered them to. Most of the Pleiades were just children or infants when I was captured, so I can't comment on them, save for that I am certain that their loyalty is absolute."

"And yours?"

"For now, I'll stay with you. I need to be certain, as I said, that you're worth my loyalty. But you're promising." She gave a rueful smile. "Besides…not many of you hugged me."

"Hey, you're cute. Plus…after all the shit you went through, you probably need a few years' worth of hugs."

A tired chuckle came from Evileye's lips. Then, she was all business once more. "I've been speaking with Mare about their little ritual to deal with Voldemort. You have three Horcruxes, the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff, the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, and the Locket of Salazar Slytherin. The more Horcruxes you have, the better. As it was, your predecessor had me looking into Voldemort's past. I know he is Tom Marvolo Riddle. Now, it goes without saying that he would try to place the Horcruxes in different places. At least two have been given to his lieutenants, the Cup and the diary. How the Locket ended up in the Black household, I don't know, but your godfather brought up the possibility of his brother Regulus bringing it there somehow. Now, how many would he have made? Aside from the one in your scar? I would put money on six, for seven soul fragments, as seven is a powerful number in Arithmancy. Four of those have been accounted for. That leaves two others. Admittedly, I am guessing, but I've had enough time to get into his head, figuratively. Plus, beyond seven soul fragments, the soul may become too unstable. Nobody has made that many Horcruxes before."

"Three…maybe the last one is the Sword of Gryffindor?"

"No," Evileye said. "The Sword of Godric Gryffindor is of Goblin make, and would not suffer something like a Horcrux. Still, a place he could place another of his Horcruxes would be Little Hangleton."

"Little Hangleton? Never heard of it."

"I'm not surprised. It's a little arse-end of a village near the Scottish border. However, it is known for two things. Firstly, it was where Tom Riddle Senior lived. The Riddles were local minor nobility. The second is that the Gaunts lived there, an incestuous little family of Purebloods who were closer to near-Squibs. Voldemort's mother, Merope, was of that family. They died out. Merope died giving birth to Voldemort, her father Marvolo died in Azkaban after attacking a Ministry official, and her brother Morfin was, apparently, framed for murdering Tom Riddle Senior and his family. Hogwarts has many secret places that you could hide something, and Little Hangleton may be a potential hiding spot for a Horcrux. And the more we have, the faster we can get this ritual done."

Harry nodded. "Of course, that's only Voldemort dealt with. There's the Death Eaters to worry about, the ones who escaped Azkaban…not to mention Dumbledore. I'm not out to conquer the world, at least overtly. Control it, yes, from the shadows, but conquer it? I just want to make it a better place."

Evileye scoffed quietly. "Then beware, Harry. The road to Hell is paved with the best of intentions. After all, do you know what Grindlewald's rallying cry was, the very one Dumbledore was seduced by? It was _For the Greater Good_ …"

* * *

Those words echoed in Harry's head later. He had to admit, Evileye had a point. Then again, Hermione was more than enough of a moral compass for him. Of his lovers, she was the least misanthropic and most moral. Plus, he had Padfoot and Moony to help as well.

It didn't mean that he wouldn't kill if necessary for Ainz Ooal Gown. Indeed, his own misanthropy was still there. He didn't like the way the world was going at the moment either.

Still, her intelligence on Voldemort was handy. He'd sent monsters specialising in stealth to investigate Little Hangleton. Harry knew that soon, a death knell would sound for Voldemort. And with that, would come the next ascendancy of Ainz Ooal Gown…

 **CHAPTER 16 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Harry and Evileye having a little chat, what else needs to be said? Sorry about the wait on this one. Once more, writer's block rears its ugly head. Don't hold your breaths for the next one to come out too soon, either…**

 **That being said, my** ** _Red vs Blue_** **crossover** ** _Xenagogy for Belligerent AIs and Dungeon Denizens_** **has received an update, as has my new** ** _Code Geass_** **crossover** ** _Plenipotent Player Prince_** **. For those of you hankering for more Overlord action, give those a go.**

 **Also,** ** _Overlord III_** **has begun! That title sequence is brilliant, as is the theme song,** ** _VORACITY_** **by Myth and Roid… " _I just want to eat! How tasty it is!_ "**

 **EDIT: MB80 pointed out a VERY embarrassing continuity error, in that the Diadem had already been found by Hermione. Therefore, I corrected it.**

 **Review-answering time!** **Have a Little Feith** **: Thank you. I reused the same line with the same character for the most recent chapter of** ** _Xenagogy for Belligerent AIs and Dungeon Denizens_** **.**

 **Robert Harrison** **: Evileye left her original name behind in this story. Shalltear doesn't even know it, and Evileye's picky about telling other people, even the current head of Ainz Ooal Gown, it.**

 **Architeuthis** **: Thanks for your kind words. Sadly, Ron, to me, evokes apathy more than anything else.**

 **Leaf Ranger** **: Thanks for your kind words. And I'm considering ending Voldemort's threat sooner…which leaves Dumbledore. And try reading the novels or watching the anime, you won't regret it…**

 **No numbered annotations for this chapter.**


	18. Chapter 17: On Squashing Bugs

**CHAPTER 17:**

 **ON SQUASHING BUGS**

The Yule Ball went off surprisingly well. It was a beautiful night, and while it was marred a little by Fleur's date going into a catatonia, as well as Snape and Karkaroff arguing in the gardens and Hagrid trying to get Maxime to admit she was half-Giant (Harry found it rather hilarious that she tried to deny her own heritage, though given what her attitude towards Ainz Ooal Gown had been, he also found it a bit of justice), it went well. Harry couldn't shake the feeling, though, that it was very much the calm before the storm.

And come the new year, that's what happened. A shitstorm. A major shitstorm.

For all Harry's distrust towards Hagrid for being overly loyal to Dumbledore, Harry also knew that the half-Giant was a simple and decent soul, fooled by the meddling old bastard. Hagrid's greatest sin was to be an unquestioning follower of Dumbledore, and Harry still liked him. And so, to have Hagrid's heritage splashed all over the front page of _The Daily Prophet_ by Rita Skeeter and the poor sod forced into hiding in his own hut, well, it was all he could do not to use Grasp Heart on that smug bastard Malfoy.

It was the night of the day of that lesson, and Harry and Hermione had gathered within the Chamber of Secrets to hold court with the other key members of Ainz Ooal Gown. After explaining the situation, Harry announced, "I have decided to put paid to Rita Skeeter. How she ended up learning of Hagrid's heritage, I don't know. I did not see her around at the time when we saw Hagrid and Maxime discussing their heritage at the Yule Ball. This suggests that she had some means of eavesdropping inconspicuously, despite the fact that we've heard that Dumbledore has banned her from the grounds. We should therefore be even more cautious than before, in case she somehow overhears something about Ainz Ooal Gown."

"Stifling the freedom of the press already, boy?" Evileye said with a raised eyebrow and a wry smirk on her face, before she looked over at Demiurge. "Now, what do you think? Invisibility Cloak? Disillusionment Charm? Notice Me Not? Animagus?"

"Invisibility Cloaks, even the ones that are not one of the Deathly Hallows, are rather rare and expensive," Demiurge remarked. "A special eavesdropping rune is a possibility, but Skeeter, to my knowledge, had no real talent in the field. You see, I have been researching her for some time as a person of interest who might expose Ainz Ooal Gown. Her talents with Charms and Transfiguration were rather superlative, so we can't dismiss her being an unregistered Animagus or being good with stealth charms. Do either of you remember any animals nearby at the time?"

Harry shook his head, but Hermione frowned. "I remember a rather gaudy-looking beetle," she said. "It was on a nearby statue."

"Hmm. Still, that is not conclusive evidence," Evileye said. "I do agree that Rita Skeeter is someone of considerable danger to us. If she is that good with either stealth charms or an Animagus transformation, then we could be exposed."

"Entoma, can your talismans detect Animagi?" Albedo asked.

The insectoid maid shook her head. "They can, but the problem is range," she trilled. "They can only cover a few square metres."

"I can set up more powerful wards to detect them," Mare said, "but they still can only cover so much surface area, and if I set up too many, I risk tripping the Hogwarts wards."

"Then maybe we'll need to do a snatch and grab," Harry mused.

"That ought to be easy enough," Hermione said. "She's staying in Hogsmeade. But the disappearance of a prominent journalist would cause comment. Should we do another false flag operation, pin it on the Death Eaters?"

"Possibly," Demiurge mused. "However, that could backfire, allowing Dumbledore to strengthen his position and point to these signs as the possibility of Voldemort returning. Fudge may even believe him, and the last thing we need in our adversaries is unity. Also, making her vanish shortly after an attack on Hagrid may draw undue attention to him and his associates, and I know how sentimental you are towards him, my lord."

"There is nothing wrong with sentiment, Demiurge, as long as it does not interfere with our operations," Harry said pointedly, glancing at the demon. He didn't like the insinuation that had crept into Demiurge's voice. Still, he raised a very good point. Having Rita Skeeter vanish so soon after such a public attack on Hagrid would backfire. "Speaking of bugs that need to be squashed, Mare, how goes the ritual?"

"It's nearly ready, my lord," Mare said. "The ritual will be ready within a few days. Preparations were faster than I believed."

"Good. Once Voldemort is dealt with, we will deal with Dumbledore, as well as the remaining Death Eaters, at our leisure. Remember, our goal is not overt conquest of Magical Britain, but we eliminate the worst of the enemies of Ainz Ooal Gown, and then move to influence things from behind the scenes. If we do have to move to overt conquest, then it will be of their hearts and minds, not trampling over their bodies." He then frowned. "I have another possible idea for Skeeter, actually. It won't necessitate her death, but it might be somewhat crueller. Still, given the people she harmed over the years, turnabout is fair play…"

* * *

A short time later, with most of the others having departed back to the Tomb of Nazarick, Harry lingered when Albedo wanted to talk to him. She and Hermione exchanged knowing looks, before the latter departed back for the Gryffindor dorms. "Albedo?" Harry asked. "What's the matter?"

"…I just wanted to talk to you, Harry. Despite our time together in the time chamber, Hermione knows you far better than I do," the Succubus admitted, looking a little down at that.

Harry sat down at the foot of the throne, and indicated that Albedo do the same. She did so, careful to tuck her wings away a little to avoid sitting on them. "What troubles you, then?"

"A lot of things." Albedo's golden eyes looked up to the vaulted ceiling of the Chamber. "Our victory over Voldemort is all but assured, thanks to Mare. In truth, we are on the ascendancy. All we need to do is deal with Dumbledore, and in a way that we do not unleash a backlash against us. So why do I feel anxious while we are on the cusp of victory?"

"…I don't know. Maybe it's because we don't know what sort of problems await us in the future."

"Maybe. Humans…they are such disgusting, petty creatures, and often hypocritical. I had thought their power nothing compared to we of Ainz Ooal Gown, and yet…I know that they are a threat. But I also see, when I go about in disguise, what they can achieve. They disgust me, and yet, they delight me too. Once, the only things humans would have delighted me with would have been their agonised screams, save for those who are allies or heirs to Ainz Ooal Gown. And yet…never mind. You are correct that when we rule, it will be from the shadows, through subtlety. However, that is not all that troubles me."

"What else does, Albedo?"

"Succession. While I intend for my lord to be ruler of Ainz Ooal Gown for a very long time, I think we also need to consider heirs. Traditionally, although a ruler of Ainz Ooal Gown has to be a pure human wizard of the line, that was decreed at a time when there were so many branches of the family that finding a suitable heir would be easy. Most of Ainz Ooal Gown's lines, however, have perished over the years. Admittedly, a lot of that was due to infighting over potential heirs jockeying for the throne, even before Grindlewald's advent and purge. Some members of Ainz Ooal Gown encouraged the infighting, if only because they wanted their favoured heir on the throne."

"…But if I'm the only heir left…"

"Only suitable heir, and to tell the truth, it's unlikely the other remaining possible heirs will ever have what it takes. However, as Ainz Ooal Gown, you can rescind the necessity for a pure human heir by using various means of extending your life. It's either that, or you take on some humans as concubines to produce heirs. That has happened before. I will respect your decision either way, but…"

"You don't like the thought of sharing me?"

Albedo chuckled. "While it is the prerogative of the ruler of Ainz Ooal Gown to have a harem, I will admit the prospect of expanding it beyond what it is now doesn't appeal to me. Hermione and Shalltear, along with the Pleiades, are exceptions rather than the rule. Hermione is a very good friend, and Shalltear, for all that we fight, is also a friend. I am a rather possessive and selfish person, as you have no doubt realised by now."

"Maybe, but I think you're also a good person, Albedo. Even though you don't like humans in general, you at least acknowledge what they're capable of, good or bad. And you don't want to go out and commit genocide or even mass murder."

"I would actually kill a lot of humans, especially if they offended me…or you. I would gladly do so. But…I do acknowledge that they create many good things. I just worry about the future. I'm not sure I can live beyond your own life." She leaned into him, closing her eyes as she nuzzled into his body. "And I worry that, with everything going so well for us…that only means that something bad will happen soon. I dare not speak of such vague worries without reason in front of the others, and indeed, I find it hard to speak of them here and now, as it feels like disloyalty, a lack of confidence in your abilities."

Harry chuckled ruefully, even as he cuddled Albedo. "It's fine. You're just worried. And I understand why. So many things can go wrong, and there's little we can do about some of them. To be honest, I'm glad I have someone caring about me. Until I got my Hogwarts letter, nobody did. And even after I came here, few saw past my reputation, or else didn't care enough about me. Ainz Ooal Gown saved my life. They actually cared about me, even if it was because I needed to lead them. And since I got to know you guys, well…I don't want to disappoint you. I don't want to let you down. So the fact that you're worried only heartens me. Anyway, I'll be changing the rules of Ainz Ooal Gown. The heir will be one I choose, regardless of their heritage, and someone who is going to be best at running Ainz Ooal Gown."

"…Thank you, Harry…" she murmured.

* * *

A few nights later, they were finally ready. They were gathered in the arena in the Tomb of Nazarick, with Harry, flanked by his lovers and Aura, standing near the ritual circle, as was Mare, who was looking nervous. Harry nodded to him, giving him a reassuring smile, before using a _Sonorous_ on himself, and then looking at the gathered denizens of Nazarick. "MY PEOPLE! HERE I STAND BEFORE YOU ONCE MORE! WHEN I STOOD BEFORE YOU ALL HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME, I SWORE THAT I WOULD BE YOUR STEWARD, YOUR PROTECTOR, YOUR SHIELD! YOU CHOSE ME TO BE YOUR RULER, AND FOR THAT, I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL! HOWEVER, THERE ARE STILL THREATS TO ALL OF US IN THIS WORLD! TONIGHT, WE RID OURSELVES OF ONE OF THE WORST!"

He could feel the attention on him. What a rush, what a heady rush it was. But he restrained himself from indulging himself in it. Instead, he continued. "HE WAS BORN TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE, BUT HE DISCARDED HIS BIRTHNAME FOR THE EPITHET LORD VOLDEMORT. HE MADE IT FROM A CHILDISH ANAGRAM OF HIS NAME, AND IT CAN MEAN, MORE OR LESS, 'FLIGHT OF DEATH' IN FRENCH! HE BELIEVES HE CAN MAKE DEATH FLEE BEFORE HIM IN FEAR, WHEN IN TRUTH, IT WAS THE OTHER WAY AROUND! HE FLEES FROM DEATH, BUT HE DOESN'T HESITATE IN SENDING OVERS INTO THE ABYSS! HE MURDERED MY FATHER, MY MOTHER, AND HE TRIED TO KILL ME! ONLY THROUGH MY MOTHER'S SACRIFICE DID I LIVE!"

He let silence fall for a time, before he continued. "WE HAVE LEARNED OF THE MEANS HE USES TO STAY ALIVE, AND MARE HAS DONE WELL IN FORMULATING A RITUAL TO REMOVE VOLDEMORT'S IMMORTALITY! TONIGHT, THEN, IS THE NIGHT! THE SO-CALLED LORD VOLDEMORT WILL LIVE NO LONGER! THUS I HAVE DECREED IT!"

As applause burst from the stands, Harry cancelled the Sonorous, and looked at Mare. "Okay, Mare. Do it."

The nervous Dark Elf nodded, and then began gathering energy, chanting in an ancient and eldritch tongue. The ritual circle began to glow with first a crimson light, and then a brilliant green, before settling into an uncanny purplish colour that tugged at the eyes, like it was a darkness that seemed to be not a mere absence of light, but something that absorbed light. In the middle was a stone, the receptacle for Voldemort's soul fragments. And Aura was holding another carafe of Basilisk venom, ready to do this.

Suddenly, the circle flared with eldritch light, and Mare sagged. "…It's done," he panted.

"Good," Harry said, looking at the stone. It was glowing with the same sickly purple colour as it had earlier. And partly embedded in it seemed to be a grotesque, baby-like version of Voldemort's head, bald and ophidian, parts of his skin looking like it had been flayed, the red eyes glaring at him in startled fury.

"Potter!" Voldemort rasped. "You will pay for this insolence! Release me!"

Albedo stepped forward, her habitual smile turned ever so slightly into a sadistic smirk. "And who are you, pitiful pretender, to order the Lord of Ainz Ooal Gown around as if he were but a whimpering cur?"

Voldemort's eyes widened in shock. "What?! Impossible! I…!"

"Shut up," Harry said coldly, walking over to him, Aura and his lovers following him. "You murdered my parents. You murdered so many innocent people. You claim to have pure blood, but you're just a Halfblood. That makes you a hypocrite, Tom Marvolo Riddle. There can only be one true ruler of Magical Britain, and you're in the way. I've killed Barty Crouch Junior, Bellatrix, any of your followers in Azkaban. Mare here has used this ritual to forcibly combine your soul fragments, your Horcruxes, back into one body. And you know what? If you'd ignored that prophecy uttered by that dipsomaniacal charlatan Trelawney that your little greasy-haired snake-sucker brought you, you might not be here, not in this way. The Power He Knows Not…it was friendship and camaraderie and loyalty, which I got with Ainz Ooal Gown. Know, then, that you will die, and become little more than a boogyman, something to scare little children, something they will grow out of. But I will live beyond you, and surpass you."

Voldemort seemed about to bluster at first when Harry began his diatribe, but some instinct in him seemed to tell him that he was now in danger of dying, that his end approached, especially as Harry took the carafe of Basilisk Venom and approached the stone he was embedded in. "No, Potter, wait! I can give you anything you want! I…"

"Bored now." And with that proclamation, Harry tipped the carafe over the stone. The high-pitched scream of agony from Voldemort would have been chilling and horrifying under any other circumstance, but to Harry, it was music to his ears.

Voldemort took a long time to die. His soul was too tenacious for it to be otherwise. But that made it all the more sweet, for his demise was long, a small payback of what he put Harry through, directly and indirectly. He couldn't help but emit a lengthy laugh at the sound of Voldemort's pain, laughing loud and long.

He knew he couldn't let himself succumb to hubris. Otherwise, he risked his enemies getting the drop on him. But he indulged himself, just this once, watching as Voldemort died slowly and painfully, and laughing…

 **CHAPTER 17 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Well, it's been a while. Sorry about the wait, and I'm afraid I have some bad news about this story. I am seriously considering abandoning this story (the first I have abandoned in some time, and before any of you make any remarks, any stories I haven't updated in a long time** ** _are on hiatus_** **until I say otherwise,** ** _not_** **abandoned), albeit in favour of a revamp using the same crossover and setting, but with a slightly different premise.**

 **There's a few reasons why. While this isn't a particularly** ** _bad_** **fic, I do feel it has perhaps too many contrivances shoved in. And after writing** ** _Plenipotent Player Prince_** **, where Momonga is reincarnated as Lelouch from** ** _Code Geass_** **, I realised that could be a simpler way to bring the** ** _Overlord_** **characters into the Potterverse. In fact, a couple of DZ2's challenges (one of which, sadly, has since been deleted) made me realise there were better directions this story could have gone.**

 **In addition, I think Harry is being too competent here. True, he would still be more competent than canon Harry if he was a reincarnated Momonga, but one of the draws of** ** _Overlord_** **is Momonga's uncertainty over his new role, even as he grows into it. This is made explicit by the contrast between his two voices, the deep confident voice of his overlord self, and his nerdy, whiny inner voice. And while I like making Harry far more competent than he is, having him act more like Momonga would actually make him more interesting and endearing.**

 **Do not misunderstand me. I haven't given up on this story yet. But I'm curious to see what you guys think. Should I do a remount, having Harry as a reincarnated Momonga, or something not dissimilar?**

 **Now, on a different note, if you want to know how Harry laughs when he kills Voldemort, well, I've been playing too much** ** _Fate/Extella Link_** **lately, and Archimedes gives off one hell of an evil laugh while he watches the results of his Noble Phantasm, Kataptron Katho Phlegon. So…like that. Look it up on Youtube if you want…**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


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